TOMORROW 


HUGO  MUNSTERBERG 


u 

Drove'51** 

IRVINE 


TOMORROW 


BOOKS  BY  HUGO  MUNSTERBERG 

Psychology  and  Ufe 

pp,  286,  Boston,  /c$99 

Grundzuge  der  Psychologic 

PP'  5t>5,  Leipzig,  7900 

American  Traits 
PP.  S3 5,  Boston,  rgoa 

Die   Amerlkaner 

//.  joa  and  340,  Berlin,  1904  (Rev.  fg/a) 

Principles  of  Art  Education 

pp.  118,  New  York,  790.5 

The  Eternal  Life 

pp.  fa,  Boston,  7905 

Science  and   Idealism 

pp.  71,  Boston,  i gob 
Philosophic  der  Werte 

pp.  486,  Leipzig;  7907 

On  the   Witness   Stand 

Pp.  269,  New  York,  1908 

Aus    Weutsch-Amerika 

Pp.  345,  Berlin,  7909 

The  Eternal  Values 

pp.  436,  Boston,  7909 

Psychotherapy 

pp.  401,  New  York,  10.09 

Psychology  and  the  Teacher 

PP.  SSO,  New  York,  79/0 

American   Problems 

pp.  220,  New  York,  10,10 

Psychologic  and  Wirtschaftsleben 

Pp.  792,  Leipzig,  roia 
Vocation  and  Learning1 

pp.  s8o,  .S?  Louis,  iqia 

Psychology  and  Industrial  Efficiency 

Pp.  321,  Boston,  iqrj 

American  Patriotism 

pp.  aba,  New  York,  1013 

Grnndzuge  der  Psychotechnik 

pp.  767,  Ltipzig,  1014 
Psychology  and  Social  Sanity 

pp.  320,  New  York,  10.14 
Psychology,  General  and  Applied 

//.  488,  New  York,  1014 

The  War  and   America 

//.  a  10,  New  York,  for 4 

The  Peace  and  America 

//.  276,  New  York,  rgtf 

The    Photoplay 
pp.  333,  New  York,  79/6 

Tomorrow 
//.  279,  New  Ycrk,  rqrb 


TO  MORROW 

LETTERS  TO  A  FRIEND 
IN  GERMANY 


BY 

HUGO  MUNSTERBERG 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 

1916 


D 


COPTBIOHT.  1916,  BT 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 
COPTBIOHT,  1916,  BT  THE  ILLINOIS  PUBLISHING  COMPAST 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE      .         .        1 
II.    THE  NEW  NATIONALISM  ....      22 

III.  NATIONALISM   IN  AMERICA       .         .         .50 

IV.  NATIONALISM    AND    THE    GERMAN-AMERI- 

CANS          .74 

V.  THE  NEW  IDEALISM         ....     110 

VI.  IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA     ....    138 

VII.  THE  NEW  PACIFISM        .         .         .         .169 

VIII.  THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM  .         .         .     213 

IX.  THE  RECONSTRUCTION      ....     243 

X.  POSTSCRIPT  270 


TOMORROW 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND: 

This  morning  your  good  letter  came  with 
its  Berlin  news.  Of  course,  the  word  news 
is  relative.  The  letter  was  more  than  ninety 
days  under  way  and  a  good  deal  of  history 
has  been  made  between  your  writing  and  my 
reading  it.  Yet  it  was  an  unusual  pleasure 
to  hold  your  letter  in  my  hand  with  its  big 
label  *  *  Opened  by  the  Censor. ' '  In  those  old, 
almost  forgotten  days  of  peace  it  seemed  to 
me  a  matter  of  course  that  three  times  a 
week  a  large  pile  of  European  correspondence 
should  come  to  my  breakfast  table.  The  mail 
from  the  fatherland  did  not  awake  more  ex- 
citement than  the  daily  newspaper.  Now 
everything  is  changed.  Nine-tenths  of  the 
letters  addressed  to  me  do  not  arrive  at  all; 
they  are  thrown  overboard.  And  so  the  few 

1 


TOMORROW 

which  do  slip  through  bring  a  pleasure  never 
before  attached  to  such  frail  sheets.  More- 
over, in  earlier  times  the  German  mail  took 
six  days  from  port  to  port.  If  your  letter 
had  arrived  with  such  undue  haste,  it  would 
have  found  me  in  a  mood  in  which  I  should 
hardly  have  cared  to  spend  my  time  in 
lengthy  answers.  But  now  the  thought  of 
war  between  America  and  Germany  has  for- 
tunately faded  away,  and,  freed  from  that 
nightmare,  I  can  really  think  of  all  those 
suggestive  questions  which  your  letter  raises. 
Yet  your  queries  are,  after  all,  merely  varia- 
tions of  one  fundamental  question :  What  will 
the  future  bring  us !  You  turn  to  me  because 
one  whose  lifework  is  psychology  may  best 
foresee  the  days  which  wait  for  us,  and  one 
who  lives  in  a  neutral  country  may  look  with 
clearer  eyes  toward  the  tomorrow  than  those 
in  belligerent  lands. 

I  accept  your  challenge.  But  if  you  really 
want  to  hear  from  me  what  I  think  of  the 
times  to  come  and  about  the  role  which 
America  will  play,  I  am  afraid  I  shall  need 
many  a  sheet.  Yet  it  is  vacation  time  and 
here  at  the  beautiful  seashore  of  the  New 
England  coast  I  love  to  write  to  my  German 

2 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

friends  while  I  look  over  the  blue  ocean 
which  ought  to  bind  and  not  to  divide  Amer- 
ica and  Europe.  You  will  not  mind  if  I  write 
in  English.  I  do  not  trust  the  British  censor 
to  read  my  small  German  script.  He  would 
condemn  my  letters  to  execution,  not  because 
I  love  German  politics  too  much,  but  because 
he  loves  German  grammar  too  little.  I  shall 
write  to  you  week  after  week,  and  if  you 
think  it  wise  to  allow  the  newspaper  readers 
in  Berlin  to  look  over  your  shoulder  I  surely 
have  no  objection.  The  wireless  brings  to 
the  German  papers  excellent  extracts  from 
the  story  of  American  events;  everybody  on 
the  continent  knows  the  essential  news.  But 
in  politics  the  unessential  is  just  the  most 
important  and  the  superfluous  becomes  nec- 
essary for  the  real  understanding  of  the 
time.  The  rigorous  blockade  of  the  last  half 
year  has  cut  off  the  frills  which  scores  of 
writers  supplied  to  the  German  press  until 
last  Christmas.  Nor  have  you  since  then  any 
American  papers  or  magazines.  Hence  my 
commentaries  may  be  welcome  to  those  who 
want  to  look  ahead.  But  if  these  letters  fare 
no  better  and  are  thrown  overboard,  too,  I 
shall  seek  comfort  in  the  proverb  of  the 


TOMORROW 

Orient:  "Do  good  and  cast  it  into  the  sea; 
if  the  fish  do  not  see  it,  the  Lord  will. ' ' 

But  let  me  say  this  from  the  start :  Your 
letter  always  speaks  of  the  old  world  and  the 
new  world,  and  means  by  that  Europe  and 
America.  Let  us  bury  such  phrases  of  yes- 
terday. The  America  of  today  has  become 
part  of  that  old,  old  world,  with  the  same 
emotions  and  the  same  aspirations  and  the 
same  prejudices  which  have  made  history  for 
untold  centuries.  The  really  new  world  has 
not  come,  but  we  feel  it  coming;  the  really 
new  world  will  be  with  us  after  the  war,  and 
America  and  Europe  will  then  be  one,  equally 
old,  equally  young,  equally  frightened  by  the 
memory  of  the  world  calamity,  equally  hope- 
ful for  the  new  age  after  the  war.  The  to- 
morrow compared  with  the  yesterday  will 
be  alike  for  all  the  great  nations. 

Do  not  misjudge  me;  do  not  fancy  that 
I  foresee  a  colorless  melting  together,  a 
cosmopolitan  oneness  after  the  exhausting 
strife.  On  the  contrary!  Of  all  that  will 
be  common  to  the  nations  of  tomorrow,  noth- 
ing will  be  more  marked  than  their  feeling 
of  independence,  of  selfhood,  of  uniqueness. 
They  had  lived  too  much  after  one  pattern. 

4 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

The  storm  has  shaken  them  and  has  brought 
back  to  every  people  the  belief  in  its  own 
solemn  mission.  Nationalism  will  grow  in 
the  new  world  after  the  war  with  a  vigor 
which  that  faint-hearted  world  of  the  past  did 
not  know.  But  it  will  be  a  new  nationalism 
with  loftier  aims  and  purer  purposes.  Jus- 
tice will  reign  instead  of  jealousy. 

Yet  the  new  nationalism  cannot  be  imag- 
ined without  a  new  internationalism.  No 
lesson  of  the  war  has  been  more  impressive 
than  that  of  the  interdependence  of  all  civil- 
ized nations.  In  the  clash  and  the  roar  of  the 
cultural  universe  they  grasped  for  the  first 
time  the  fundamental  truth  that  they  are, 
after  all,  the  united  states  of  the  world.  Will 
this  new  internationalism  bring  us  peace?  I 
know  it  will  surely  bring  us  the  will  for 
peace.  The  pacificism  of  the  old  world  will 
disappear,  but  a  new  pacificism  will  grow 
among  us,  virile,  just,  and  inspiring.  I  hope 
it  will  not  speak  in  the  threatening  lan- 
guage of  force:  to  enforce  peace  means  to 
endanger  peace.  But  it  will  be  powerful 
through  the  idealistic  spirit  which  will  be  the 
deepest  trait  of  the  new  time.  Life  has 
gained  a  new  meaning.  Out  of  suffering  and 

5 


TOMORROW 

woe  the  cry  for  a  nobler  life  will  not  be  in 
vain.  The  new  idealism  will  be  the  salvation 
of  the  century.  I  do  not  know,  and  my  psy- 
chology cannot  help  me  to  predict,  in  which 
month  or  year  the  bells  of  peace  will  ring. 
But  I  do  know  that  this  new  nationalism  and 
new  idealism  and  new  pacificism  and  new  in- 
ternationalism will  grow  wonderfully  out  of 
the  ruins  of  the  war,  and  that  in  the  spell  of 
this  richer  fulfillment  there  will  be  no  victors 
and  no  vanquished.  .  .  . 

But  while  such  hopes  and  beliefs  may  glow 
in  our  hearts  and  make  our  darkness  toler- 
able, they  cannot  be  the  answers  to  your 
questions,  as  long  as  they  are  nothing  but 
beliefs  and  hopes.  The  psychologist,  to  be 
sure,  will  not  forget  that  the  wishes  of  the 
soul  are  the  deepest  formative  energies  not 
only  in  the  single  individual  but  also  in  the 
nation  and  in  the  concert  of  nations.  The 
better  future  will  never  be  with  us  if  a  de- 
spondent pessimism  once  takes  hold  of  the 
civilized  world,  and  if  the  leading  minds 
yield  to  the  fear  that  the  cataclysm  of  this 
war  must  destroy  European  culture  just  as 
Rome  once  broke  down  and  the  night  of  me- 
dievalism followed.  In  this  turmoil  of  bat- 

6 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

ties  it  would  be  the  most  disastrous  defeat 
if  hope  and  belief  and  optimistic  conviction 
were  crushed  by  the  panic  of  our  emotions. 
If  victory,  not  in  the  war,  but  after  the  war, 
is  really  to  come,  not  to  regiments  but  to 
mankind,  it  will  be  only  because  we  think 
early  of  our  preparedness — preparedness  of 
the  world's  heart  and  spirit,  preparedness 
by  hope  and  faith  and  mutual  understand- 
ing. But  however  much  such  faith  may  re- 
move the  mountains  of  the  political  world, 
to  move  them  we  must  first  know  where  the 
mountains  stand. 

What  are  the  stubborn  facts?  What  have 
those  to  report  who  have  been  in  the  trenches 
and  in  the  headquarters,  with  the  crowds  and 
with  the  leaders  in  the  belligerent  lands  and 
who  have  moved  among  the  neutrals,  if  neu- 
trals there  be!  What  are  the  general  ten- 
dencies which  they  have  observed?  Yet  is 
this  question  fair?  The  will  to  observe 
is  always  hampered  by  hidden  prejudices. 
Everybody  hears  what  he  expects  or  likes 
to  hear.  The  Americans,  who  are  strongly 
suggestible,  are  especially  inclined  to  inter- 
weave impressions  from  without  and  feelings 
from  within.  No  wonder  that  in  reports 

7 


'which  we  receive  here  from  earnest  men  curi- 
ous contradictions  prevail.  Still  less  wonder 
that  the  day  is  carried  by  those  who  tell  us 
that  the  one  great  change  which  the  war  will 
bring  will  be  the  triumph  of  liberalism,  of 
progressivism,  yes,  of  radicalism  and  social- 
ism. We  hear  the  prophets  who  come  back 
from  their  pilgrimages  in  many  a  land  and 
who  tell  us :  "In  Europe's  populace  a  restless 
spirit  is  setting  in.  Not  articulate  as  yet.  It 
has  not  bubbled  up  to  the  surface.  But  deep 
down  the  fires  are  boiling;  the  brew  is  sim- 
mering. .  .  .  All  this  spells  a  popular  reac- 
tion when  peace  is  finally  ratified.  There  is 
the  likelihood  that  uprisings  will  blaze  out 
against  the  wealthy  in  Europe's  chief  cities." 
It  is  only  natural  when  men  with  strong 
socialistic  trend  single  out  the  firebrands  of 
England  and  France  and  Germany  and  Kus- 
sia  for  heart-to-heart  talks  that  they  should 
soon  see  Europe's  future  burning  red.  No- 
body can  blame  them  for  hurrying  home  with 
a  cry  of  alarm :  '  *  The  deep  passion  sweep- 
ing over  Europe  will  make  itself  felt  in 
America."  But  even  the  sober  ones  must 
acknowledge  that  the  socialists  in  Europe 
will  stand  on  firmer  ground  after  the  war 

8 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

than  before.  The  classes  have  learned  to  un- 
derstand one  another.  Those  who  have  in- 
termingled in  the  dugouts  can  never  again 
look  on  one  another  as  if  they  were  creatures 
of  different  kind  and  of  different  value.  It 
may  be  still  more  true  that  a  progressive 
liberalism  will  raise  its  head  in  regions  where 
it  was  little  seen,  and  that  its  views  will  be 
heard  with  respect  and  sympathy  where  it 
was  too  often  treated  as  mere  opposition. 
The  willingness  with  which  all  parts  of  the 
peoples  made  their  sacrifices  can  never  be 
forgotten.  The  service  which  liberal  thought 
and  progressive  science,  middle-class  senti- 
ment and  enthusiasm  have  rendered  in  every 
field  will  count  against  reaction  everywhere. 
The  new  spirit  will  sweep  away  every  dust- 
covered  tradition ;  and  I  trust  that  very  soon 
when  you  cast  your  vote  for  representatives 
in  the  Prussian  Diet  you  may  at  last  do  it 
in  accordance  with  a  more  progressive  elec- 
tion scheme;  similar  to  that  of  the  German 
Eeichstag,  the  most  democratic  in  Europe. 
Even  the  Anglo-Russian  alliance  will  bring 
no  czarism  across  the  Channel  and  quite  a 
little  democratic  spirit  to  the  Duma. 
Yet  who  can  deny  that  the  forces  which 
9 


TOMORROW 

push  in  the  opposite  direction  are  just  as 
active  and  powerful?  No  people  submits  for 
years  to  a  dictatorial  regime  without  a  men- 
tal remolding,  and  dictators  have  reigned 
throughout  the  belligerent  lands,  at  the  front 
and  behind  it,  in  city  and  village,  in  the  pub- 
lic press  and  private  homes.  There  was 
never  a  war  without  worship  for  the  military 
hero,  and  never  was  a  nation  in  peril  without 
instinctively  strengthening  its  centralizing 
energies.  Victorious  and  disastrous  wars 
alike  have  reenforced  the  conservative  ele- 
ments of  a  nation,  and  reaction  has  always 
lurked  in  the  barracks.  If  there  was  one 
bureaucracy  in  Western  Europe  which  was 
always  denounced  as  stubbornly  conserva- 
tive, it  was  the  German  one.  Can  we  really 
expect  that  its  power  will  shrink  after  the 
strongest  test  has  been  made  and  has  proved 
even  to  the  most  incredulous  that  miracles 
are  still  possible?  How  shallow  today  sound 
all  those  flippant  jottings  of  the  American 
papers  in  the  early  war  times,  dealing  with 
the  junkers  and  princes  of  Germany!  Even 
the  ignorant  have  learned  that  princes  and 
peasants'  sons  stood  and  fell  together  in  the 
trenches,  and  that  the  decried  policies  of  re- 

10 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

gardless  warfare  and  the  harsh  peace  condi- 
tions were  demanded  not  by  the  emperor  and 
his  chancellor,  but  by  the  speakers  of  the  in- 
dustrial centers  and  many  a  liberal  politician. 
Within  Germany  and  without  many  preju- 
dices against  the  conservatives  have  melted 
away.  I  remember  well  how  you  yourself 
denounced  their  policies  on  account  of  their 
apparently  selfish  agrarian  tactics  which 
raised  the  cost  of  living  for  the  working- 
men.  Can  you  deny  that  without  those  ego- 
istic agrarians  the  bread  would  have  disap- 
peared from  your  own  table  during  the  war, 
and  that  Germany  might  really  have  come 
near  to  starving  misery!  It  is  easy  to  praise 
one  side  and  to  denounce  the  other,  but  the 
psychologist  who  simply  tries  to  understand 
the  working  energies  must  frankly  admit  that 
the  war  has  pruned  the  liberal  and  the  con- 
servative trees  alike,  and  that  abundant  fruit 
may  be  expected  from  both.  The  tension  be- 
tween those  opposing  energies  in  the  world 
of  politics  may  be  decreased,  but  I  do  not  see 
any  symptoms  which  indicate  that  one  will 
overcome  the  other. 

Needless  to  say  that  the  contrast  which 
Americans  especially  like  to  bolster  up  into 

11 


TOMORROW 

a  world  problem,  that  of  republic  and  mon- 
archy, will  in  the  same  way  remain  unchanged 
after  the  war.  It  may  be  that  a  few  more 
little  kingdoms  will  be  created;  it  may  be 
that  a  number  of  republics  will  grow,  but 
there  will  be  no  landslides.  One  of  the  most 
influential  men  in  America  assured  me  in  that 
sinister  autumn  of  1914  that  only  one  result 
of  this  war  would  be  certain :  Whoever  won, 
there  would  be  no  longer  any  Hohenzollern 
or  Hapsburg  on  the  throne.  It  sounds  like 
antediluvian  news.  The  oratory  against  the 
German  Emperor  and  against  his  starting  of 
the  war  has  lost  its  audience  even  in  the  back- 
woods of  politics.  When  peace  is  with  us 
the  world  will  feel  more  distinctly  than  ever 
before  that  the  form  of  a  state  is  the  out- 
growth of  historic  conditions  and  cannot  be 
settled  by  logical  reasoning,  that  one  is  in 
itself  not  better  than  another,  and  that  a 
president  would  fit  into  Petrograd  as  badly 
as  a  czar  in  Washington.  Even  as  to  the 
methods  of  government,  enlightened  public 
opinion  will  hardly  be  swayed  into  new  di- 
rections. You  are  not  the  only  university 
professor  who  wrote  to  me  in  the  first  year  of 
the  war  about  the  great  changes  which  would 

12 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

have  to  come  in  the  direction  of  more  demo- 
cratic control.  The  time  of  diplomatic  in- 
trigues and  of  secret  treaties  must  come  to 
an  end.  The  civilization  of  Europe  must  not 
again  be  the  plaything  of  mediocre  pseudo- 
statesmen.  Clear  thinking  Englishmen  have 
told  us  that  we  should  never  have  had  war 
if  the  British  people  had  known  all  the  time 
what  clandestine  agreements  had  been  made 
for  them.  And  so  it  went  all  around.  Aston- 
ishment and  indignation  followed  everywhere 
when  archives  were  opened,  and  the  educated 
classes  of  every  nation  seemed  to  find  their 
political  comfort  only  in  the  discovery  that 
the  rival  diplomats  were  still  more  incompe- 
tent. 

Yet  have  the  masses,  north  and  south  and 
east  and  west,  really  shown  surer  judgment, 
safer  instinct,  clearer  insight  and  fairer  de- 
cision? Must  we  not  rather  acknowledge 
that  on  both  sides  of  the  ocean  those  actors 
played  best  during  the  war  who  did  not  play 
for  the  applause  of  the  audience?  Every- 
where it  seems  the  public  was  more  often 
wrong  than  the  cabinets ;  the  emissaries,  with 
all  their  glorified  business  experience,  proved 
less  able  even  in  practical  affairs  than  the 

13 


TOMORROW 

exclusive  diplomats.  I  doubt  whether  I 
should  still  have  a  chance  to  write  even  this 
letter  if  you  and  some  seventy  million  other 
Germans  had  voted  on  the  U-boat  question 
when  the  American  note  reached  Germany. 
The  most  important  factors  in  such  a  decision 
can  be  known  only  to  a  few,  simply  because 
they  stop  being  important  and  being  worth 
knowing  as  soon  as  more  than  a  few  know 
them.  "We  all  shall  go  on  clamoring  for  dem- 
ocratic control,  and  profiting  from  the  lack 
of  it. 

It  strikes  me  that  it  will  be  similar  with 
most  other  disputed  tendencies  of  the  past. 
Some  tell  us  that  the  time  after  the  war  will 
be  the  age  of  the  women.  The  mothers  and 
girls  have  fought  this  war ;  they  have  shown 
themselves  companions  and  comrades  in  the 
men's  work  as  never  before,  and  their  quiet 
aid  behind  the  lines  was  more  admirable  than 
any  heroism.  They  have  shown  their  fitness 
for  numberless  callings  which  they  did  not 
dream  of  entering  before.  The  pathos  of 
their  fate  has  rewritten  the  statutes  for  men 
and  women  in  Europe.  All  this  is  true ;  and 
yet  it  is  no  less  true  that  millions  of  men 
have  suffered  and  died  for  women  and  chil- 

14 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

dren.  Physical  force  will  be  valued  far  more 
than  in  our  peaceful  yesterday.  In  a  pe- 
riod of  worship  for  the  virile  victories,  fem- 
inine virtues  will  appear  elements  of  weak- 
ness. Women  may  get  the  suffrage  every- 
where, and  yet  may  everywhere  be  disfran- 
chised, as  the  spirit  of  the  after-war-time  will 
force  them  to  use  their  womanly  vote  in  the 
service  of  one-sided  manly  ideals. 

The  same  play  of  psychological  forces  and 
counterforces  will  shape  the  work  of  arts  and 
sciences.  It  is  a  pity  to  see  how  many  fine 
men  in  all  the  belligerent  lands  indulge  to- 
day in  an  almost  brutal  contempt  for  the 
charm  of  art.  It  cannot  be  otherwise.  Every 
muscle  and  every  thought  is  bent  toward  he- 
roic tasks;  the  hard  reality  demands  char- 
acter and  strength  and  life  blood.  That 
brings  men  back  to  the  fundamentals  of  pure 
existence  and  suddenly  the  aestheticism  of  our 
leisurely  hours  appears  artificial,  unhealthy, 
fatal.  The  demands  of  the  day  are  better  met 
by  the  ruddy  farmer  and  workingman  than 
by  the  impressionist  and  the  futurist.  They 
who  have  seen  the  terrors  of  the  battlefield 
shrink  from  the  over-refinement  of  a  per- 
fumed culture  and  feel  choked  in  the  atmos- 

15 


TOMORROW 

phere  of  mere  art.  All  stage  setting  appears 
to.  them  deceitful.  The  world  of  the  scholar 
does  not  fare  better.  It  seems  as  if  the  thun- 
der of  the  cannon  had  suddenly  awakened  the 
somnambulist.  The  truth  of  life  is  simple, 
and  the  war  has  brought  us  back  to  it;  the 
complex  truth  of  the  scholarly  books  stares 
at  us  with  ghastly,  empty  eyes.  Theories  are 
merely  a  fancy  of  the  mind ;  the  struggle  for 
existence  does  not  need  words  but  deeds.  Art 
and  science  alike  may  bloom  in  days  in  which 
we  can  forget  the  radical  facts  of  life,  but 
they  become  frivolous  when  the  ground  is 
reddened  by  blood. 

Yet  the  opposite  is  no  less  certain.  This 
war  is  first  of  all  a  war  of  technique  and 
that  means  of  science.  The  laboratory  has 
equipped  the  armies  and  has  triumphed  on 
land,  in  the  sea,  in  the  air,  and  even  in  the 
ether  which  carries  the  wireless.  But  it  was 
and  is  not  only  the  war  of  physics  and  chem- 
istry; the  problems  of  economics  and  geog- 
raphy, of  hygiene  and  medicine  and — if  we 
take  it  with  a  grain  of  salt — of  international 
law,  that  have  called  the  scholars  into  the  fore- 
ground. National  efficiency  can  never  again 
be  severed  from  scientific  thoroughness  and 

16 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

it  will  be  a  dogma  of  the  future  that  educa- 
tion, scholarship  and  theory  are  the  most 
essential  conditions  of  practical  success  in 
the  rivalry  of  the  peoples.  Yes,  the  world 
has  learned  once  more  that  even  philosophies 
can  win  and  lose  battles.  But  with  the  sci- 
ences the  arts  ought  to  flourish.  History 
has  shown  over  and  over  again  that  the  strife 
of  the  races  gives  wonderful  impulse  to 
poetry  and  drama,  to  architecture  and  fine 
arts.  A  slow  pulse  favors  many  a  sober 
work;  but  only  when  the  heart  of  the  world 
beats  in  excitement,  and  the  emotions  of  joy 
or  sorrow,  of  hope  or  fear,  of  triumph  or 
grief,  penetrate  into  every  home,  will  the  life 
of  beauty  become  abundant.  It  is  significant 
that  the  Berlin  theaters  of  this  year  of  war 
are  crowded  with  new  plays,  new,  serious, 
ambitious  dramas  and  operas,  and  Paris  glo- 
ries in  her  new  paintings. 

Will  it  be  different  with  commerce  and  in- 
dustry? We  hear  the  sinister  voices  of  those 
who  feel  sure  that  Europe  will  be  devastated 
and  exhausted,  unable  to  recuperate  its  eco- 
nomic energies  for  a  generation.  On  both 
sides  the  demands  of  the  victor  are  pro- 
claimed, but  on  neither  side  is  the  word  in- 

17 


TOMORROW 

demnity  any  longer  spoken.  It  would  sound 
too  absurd  when  the  purses  are  empty  and 
when  war  debts  in  every  land  stagger  finan- 
cial imagination.  The  workers  of  the  fac- 
tories are  killed  or  maimed;  commerce  and 
industry  are  paralyzed.  And  yet  commerce 
and  industry  never  had  such  tremendous 
chances  to  replenish  the  world  and,  even  in 
these  days  of  crippled  exchange,  we  know 
that  every  land  is  preparing  for  a  gigantic 
after- war  rivalry  in  the  markets  of  the  world. 
Never  was  business  ambition  so  stirred  as  it 
will  be  when  the  soldiers  return  to  the  work- 
shops and  the  seven  seas  are  free  again.  The 
debt  of  the  battles  cannot  blight  it.  I  remem- 
ber how  in  my  boyhood  days  my  native  town 
of  Danzig  still  had  to  pay  interest  for  the 
debts  of  the  Napoleonic  wars  of  our  great- 
grandfathers, but  all  the  time  the  beautiful 
seaport  enjoyed  its  splendid  commercial  suc- 
cess, and  did  not  care  about  the  slowly  dis- 
appearing debit  figures  in  its  budget  from 
long-forgotten,  horrible  war  times.  All  Eu- 
rope will  have  to  pay  for  generations,  but 
will  be  able  to  pay  with  open  hands. 

Even  the  question  of  peace  forces  the  an- 
swers yes  and  no  to  the  lips  of  the  psycholo- 

18 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

gist.  Yes,  as  soon  as  this  war  of  all  wars  is 
at  last  concluded,  every  thought  will  center 
around  the  hope  that  such  millionfold  mis- 
ery will  never  visit  the  world  again.  Can 
we  venture  to  build  up  and  to  build  up  anew 
if  we  must  tremble  in  the  fear  that  an  explo- 
sion will  shake  the  globe  again  and  shatter 
all  to  pieces  ?  Generations  will  be  stunned  by 
the  appalling  woe ;  the  longing  for  unbroken 
peace  must  become  for  a  century  the  deepest 
instinct  of  the  social  mind.  But  there  is  an- 
other psychological  law  which  no  will  can 
banish ;  the  social  mind  is  molded  by  habits. 
If  thoughts  and  impulses  of  one  type  have 
been  often  repeated,  the  inner  resistance  to 
them  breaks  down,  the  dislike  turns  into  in- 
difference, habit  is  triumphant.  Not  with- 
out punishment  does  the  world  become  accus- 
tomed to  the  noise  of  the  battle.  In  times 
of  long  peace  any  thought  of  war  is  held  in 
check  by  the  emotional  habits,  but  when  the 
memory  of  war  is  alive  the  check  is  removed. 
It  seems  so  much  easier  to  rush  once  more  to 
arms.  An  earthquake  seldom  brings  only  one 
shock.  One  war  leads  to  another.  The  psy- 
chological outlook  shows  both  future  peace 
and  war. 

19 


TOMORROW 

When  liberal  and  conservative,  progres- 
sive and  reactionary,  virile  and  feminine, 
cultural  and  anticultural,  economic  and  anti- 
economic,  militaristic  and  pacificistic  tenden- 
cies of  the  mind  have  equal  chances  after  the 
world  war,  it  would  be  hazardous  to  prophesy 
whether  the  special  nations  will  be  pushed 
into  one  or  another  direction.  External  con- 
ditions, the  influences  of  great  leaders,  sys- 
tematic agitations  and  propaganda,  material 
factors,  the  terms  of  the  peace  treaties,  sun- 
shine and  rain,  will  decide  whether  this  or 
that  tendency  will  be  the  stronger  in  the  par- 
ticular land.  But  there  is  one  great  trend 
which  will  be  common  to  every  nation:  na- 
tionalism will  become  paramount.  The  pose 
of  the  prophet  is  not  needed  for  such  a  mes- 
sage. It  is  obvious:  our  tomorrow  will  be 
nationalistic  to  the  core. 

Let  this  be  the  cue  for  my  first  three  or 
four  letters:  I  want  to  speak  of  the  new 
nationalism,  both  in  Europe  and  America. 
Only  after  a  full  discussion  of  this  central 
problem  shall  I  turn  to  the  new  idealism,  to 
the  new  pacificism  and  finally  to  the  new  in- 
ternationalism of  the  time  to  come.  This  yes 
and  no  letter  of  today  is  only  to  tell  you  that 

20 


THE  CONTRASTS  OF  THE  FUTURE 

I  accept  your  psychological  summons.  From 
now  on  you  will  hear  me  saying  yes;  that 
alone  is  what  our  pregnant  time  is  needing. 
But  I  must  delay  my  real  answer  until  the 
next  mail.  However  thin  the  paper  which  I 
have  chosen,  the  letter  has  already  swollen 
to  suspicious  thickness:  Kirkwall  is  wide 
awake.  I  have  just  room  to  add  my  cordial 
regards  to  your  wife  and  daughter,  about 
whose  admirable  Bed  Cross  work  I  have 
heard  enthusiastic  reports. 

Faithfully  yours, 

H.  M. 


n 

THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

MY  DEAR  COLLEAGUE: 

It  is  among  the  many  perversions  which 
the  war  has  forced  on  us  that  correspondence 
over  the  ocean  has  become  a  one-sided  enter- 
prise. I  do  not  know  whether  my  first  letter 
with  its  outlook  into  the  future  will  ever  reach 
you,  and  if  I  were  to  wait  for  an  answer  from 
you  I  should  miss  the  humor  of  the  British 
censorship.  I  shall  simply  go  on  as  if  I  wrote 
for  the  mere  discharge  of  my  soul;  and  yet 
all  my  feelings  go  out  to  you,  and  it  is  as  if 
I  sat  down  at  your  side  under  the  arbor  in 
your  beautiful  garden  with  the  tall,  clipped 
rosebushes  which  are  unknown  here  in  Amer- 
ica. How  I  should  like  really  to  spend  the 
summer  days  with  you!  Above  all,  I  shall 
never  overcome  my  regret  that  I  did  not  see 
the  great  emotion  of  the  Germans  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war  with  my  own  eyes.  You 

22 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

know  it  was  only  by  accident  that  I  had 
changed  my  traveling  plans,  returned  my 
steamer  tickets  and  thus  happened  not  to  be 
in  Berlin  when  the  war  broke  out  and  the 
whole  country  suddenly  knew  that  it  had  to 
defend  its  homes  against  a  fivefold  superior 
enemy.  Oh,  how  I  wish  I  might  have  lived 
through  that  glorious,  solemn  exaltation  of 
the  fatherland!  That  was  the  hour  when 
German  nationalism  came  to  its  maturity; 
and  nationalism  is,  after  all,  the  greatest 
gift  of  our  time. 

I  do  not  want  to  suggest  that  nationalism 
is  a  pure  virtue.  Some  of  the  ugliest  acts 
of  the  war  were  clearly  the  consequences  of 
the  newly  awaking  enthusiastic  nationalism 
in  the  world.  In  the  almost  forgotten  first 
act  of  the  war  Japan  seized  Kiau  Chau.  "With 
an  abundance  of  love  Germany  had  built  up 
and  protected  this  eastern  jewel  of  its  col- 
onies. German  or  anti-German,  everybody 
with  a  sense  of  fairness  must  feel  it  painfully 
that  Japan  grasped  it  at  a  moment  when  a 
third  of  the  civilized  globe  was  fighting 
against  Germany.  I  point  to  it  only  as  a  symp- 
tom of  the  tremendous  nationalistic  outbreak. 
Japan  had  no  ill  feeling  against  Germany, 

23 


TOMORROW 

but  the  nationalistic  passion  had  shaken  the 
mind  of  the  people:  Asia  for  Asiatics,  was 
the  new  policy,  and  Japan's  mission  was  to 
be  Asia's  leader.  From  that  day  the  new 
spirit  in  Japan  has  grown  by  leaps  and 
bounds;  the  new  treaty  with  Russia  leaves 
little  doubt  that  the  fall  of  Tsing  Tau  was 
only  the  beginning.  I  know  you  blame  the 
Italians  still  more.  Their  faithlessness  in 
the  hour  of  danger  after  profiting  for  thirty 
years  from  the  alliance  with  Germany  and 
Austria  has  embittered  you  and  every  Ger- 
man. But  was  it  not  again  a  nationalism 
which  from  a  thousand  sources  had  grown 
to  a  stream  of  such  violence  that  the  dam  of 
alliance  treaties  could  not  possibly  hold  it 
back!  The  world  had  simply  ignored  the 
rapid  swelling  of  Italian  nationalism.  The 
glorious  memories  of  old  Rome,  the  proud 
traditions  of  Italy,  the  Roman  Empire  and 
the  Italian  Renaissance,  had  fascinated  the 
youth  of  the  country,  and  the  D'Annunzio 
spirit  was  everywhere  alive:  the  tempting 
hour  which  promised  the  fulfillment  of  every 
dream  forced  nationalism  to  an  overwhelm- 
ing power  which  hurled  war  into  the  land 
of  its  allies. 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

We  probably  would  agree  that  this  new 
nationalism  is  first  of  all  the  triumph  of  the 
idea  of  the  state.  The  political  state  with 
all  its  legal  abstractness  has  proved  stronger 
than  any  other  bond  which  holds  human 
groups  together.  How  forcibly  did  the  unity 
of  the  state  supersede  the  diversity  of  lan- 
guage !  German,  French  and  Italian  Switzer- 
land were  swayed  by  one  mighty  stubborn, 
resentful  nationalism.  They  sympathized  in 
Zurich  with  the  Germans  and  in  Geneva  with 
the  French,  but  they  were  one  in  their  faith  in 
the  Swiss  republic.  What  a  conglomerate  the 
languages  in  the  Austrian  Empire,  and  yet 
what  an  accord  in  the  hour  of  national  trial ! 

Above  all,  the  state  has  proved  itself 
stronger  than  the  race.  We  have  heard  so 
often  and  with  so  much  assurance  the  story 
of  the  omnipotence  of  race  in  human  his- 
tory. The  true  psychologist  always  knew 
that  it  was  a  legend,  and  the  war  has  demon- 
strated it  again.  Surely  no  one  can  disre- 
gard the  tremendous  influence  of  racial  traits 
and  no  melting  pot  can  make  them  disap- 
pear. To  explain  history  from  the  angle  of 
race  is  the  last  word  of  natural  science  and 
as  such  perfectly  correct.  But  to  explain  the 
25 


TOMORROW 

progress  of  social  events  is  not  the  only  way 
to  understand  it.  "We  live  in  a  world  of  pur- 
poses which  must  be  interpreted  and  not  ex- 
plained. Their  meaning  and  aim  count  and 
not  their  naturalistic  origin.  The  pose  of 
the  scientific  account  is  a  sin  against  the  true 
spirit  of  history.  The  belief  in  the  eternal 
unity  of  the  nation,  the  common  law,  the 
common  tradition,  the  common  cultural  treas- 
ures and  the  common  aspirations  have 
throughout  the  war  overcome  the  biological 
affinities  of  the  races.  The  Slavic  Bulgars 
turned  against  the  Russians,  Anglo-Saxon 
against  Teutonic  cousins. 

Great  Britain  and  Austria  show  to  the 
world  this  magnificent  power  amidst  racial 
chaos.  Let  us  be  frank  to  admit  that  the 
adhesion  of  the  British  Empire  came  to 
many  of  us  as  a  surprise.  We  knew  what 
India  has  had  to  suffer,  we  remembered  what 
the  Boers  had  to  go  through,  and  yet  when 
the  king  called  the  wave  of  enthusiasm  swept 
over  the  British  lands  of  five  continents. 
But  the  firmness  of  the  Austrian  Empire  was 
perhaps  a  still  greater  revelation.  Seven- 
teen races,  and  yet  one  national  soul!  We 
had  so  often  heard  that  the  land  must  fall 

26 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

asunder  and  that  the  reign  of  Vienna  was 
an  artificial  superfluity.  The  jubilant  pa- 
triotism of  the  Austrian  Empire  best  proved 
that  there  is  an  inner  historic  reason  for  the 
constitutional  union  of  this  apparent  chaos 
of  states.  The  balance  of  Europe  could 
never  have  been  upheld  without  the  weight 
of  that  great  Austrian  power  to  keep  it 
stable.  The  exceptions  only  confirm  the  rule. 
Where,  as  in  Ireland,  in  Poland,  in  TJkrania, 
in  Finland,  distinct  traditions  of  national 
unity  had  been  kept  alive,  the  hope  of  break- 
ing the  present  constitutional  bond  inflamed 
the  imagination  of  the  masses,  but  not  be- 
cause the  nationalistic  idea  was  too  weak,  but 
because  the  memory  of  old  nationalism  arose 
against  the  new.  Yet  even  in  Russia,  where 
the  absorption  of  subjugated  peoples  has  re- 
mained more  external  than  in  any  other  land, 
the  nationalistic  sentiment  overcame  tre- 
mendous obstacles,  and  even  the  German  ele- 
ments in  the  Russian  bureaucracy  proved 
Russian  to  the  core.  The  fact  that  the  Prus- 
sian Poles  in  the  east  and  the  Alsatians  in 
the  west  were  found  by  this  test  to  be  loyal 
Germans  was,  of  course,  what  we  all  ex- 
pected. 

27 


TOMORROW 

The  secret  fear  in  many  a  land  had  been 
much  more  that  the  jealousy  of  the  parties 
would  hinder  the  work  of  the  state  and  that 
the  internationalism  of  the  socialists  would 
prove  dangerous.  Nations  and  races  are  con- 
cepts which  move  in  different  dimensions, 
but  nations  and  parties  belong  together.  The 
race  is  a  biological  idea,  but  the  parties  and 
nations  both  belong  in  the  world  of  historical 
ideas.  If  nationalism  becomes  faint-hearted, 
party  spirit  and  international  sympathies 
can  easily  deprive  it  of  all  influence.  But  at 
the  bugle  call  the  parties  in  every  land 
outdid  one  another  in  their  readiness  to 
make  sacrifices  for  the  national  idea.  At 
that  historic  moment  when  the  German  so- 
cialists voted  the  war  credit  and  when  the 
German  emperor  solemnly  declared  that  he 
no  longer  knew  parties  but  only  Germans, 
the  spirit  of  nationalism  won  its  most  dif- 
ficult victory.  Might  it  not  be  said  that  since 
the  beginning  of  the  war  it  has  not  suffered 
a  single  defeat  in  all  Europe?  The  party 
spirit  will  come  back,  as  no  national  life 
would  be  healthy  without  a  vigorous  opposi- 
tion of  tendencies  within  the  national  frame. 
But  the  nationalistic  energy  which  remains 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

supreme  over  all  party  conflicts  will  surely 
last  when  all  the  battle  smoke  has  cleared 
away. 

What  is  the  real  significance  of  this  new 
nationalistic  creed?  What  psychological 
elements  enter  into  its  dominion?  Is  it  really 
nothing  but  crude  egotism  projected  on  the 
world  map  with  its  gigantic  scale?  Is  it 
merely  a  scramble  for  possessions,  in  order 
that  each  citizen  may  profit  from  hie  share? 
Is  nationalism  really  bound  up  with  jealousy 
and  envy  and  suspicion,  with  insincere  di- 
plomacy, with  aggressive  militarism,  with 
disregard  for  justice  and  humanity?  To 
formulate  the  question  means  to  deny  it. 
Only  the  nationalism  of  an  enemy  shows 
such  a  repulsive  face.  The  true  nationalism 
of  today  looks  very  different  from  such  a 
caricature  which  prejudice  and  superficiality 
suggest.  National  selfishness  may  sometimes 
be  an  injurious  by-product  of  the  nationalistic 
spirit,  but  it  is  never  the  essence.  The  na- 
tionalism which  gives  meaning  to  our  time 
and  which  will  spread  in  the  near  days  of 
peace  as  never  before  is  belief  and  is  faith- 
ful service. 

The  starting  point,  it  seems  to  me,  is  a 


TOMORROW 

firm  conviction  that  one's  nation  as  it  has 
grown  and  unfolded  possesses  valuable  char- 
acteristic traits.  It  is  a  belief  in  the  unique- 
ness and  worthiness  of  the  nation's  soul.  No 
metaphysical  speculations  about  the  oversoul 
are  involved  there.  Surely  we  do  not  know 
a  soul  of  the  nation  independent  from  the 
souls  of  its  members.  The  stream  does  not 
flow  outside  of  its  myriads  of  drops.  But 
in  every  nation  we  grasp  a  oneness  of  tradi- 
tions and  memories,  of  language  and  customs, 
of  laws  and  literature,  of  arts  and  sciences, 
of  commerce  and  politics,  of  morals  and  re- 
ligion. They  hold  together  and  work  to- 
gether like  the  ideas  and  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings and  emotions  and  impulses  in  the  soul 
of  an  individual  personality.  And  just  as 
this  personal  soul  is  bound  to  a  body  with  all 
its  inherited  energies,  the  national  soul  too 
belongs  to  a  national  body,  to  a  land  with  all 
the  treasures  in  its  soil,  with  its  fields  and 
woods,  its  streams  and  mountains,  its  ham- 
lets and  towns.  Whatever  the  national  soul 
creates  is  the  outcome  of  all  these  mental  and 
physical  possessions.  All  its  historical  ex- 
periences are  reflected  in  its  deeds;  all  its 
popular  emotions  shape  its  original  work  and 

30 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

make  it  characteristically  different  from  that 
of  any  other  people.  It  may  not  be  better 
and  it  may  not  be  worse  than  that  of  the  rest 
of  the  world,  but  nationalism  loves  the  flavor 
of  this  difference.  Nationalism  clings  with 
all  its  loyalty  to  this  individuality. 

It  is  natural  that  such  love  and  loyalty 
should  turn  into  a  devoted  overestimation. 
It  may  even  lead  to  boastful  pride.  But  the 
screaming  catchword  of  the  holiday  orator 
cannot  deprive  this  nationalistic  belief  of  its 
deeper  and  better  meaning.  Surely  there 
are  periods  in  which  this  love  and  loyalty 
to  the  specific  content  of  the  national  soul 
are  only  faintly  heard  and  almost  forgotten. 
These  are  the  times  of  imitation,  when  emo- 
tion is  silent  and  mere  understanding  and 
rational  thought  pick  out  the  best  in  what- 
ever corner  of  the  world  it  can  be  found. 
Glorious  times  they  are  when  the  noblest 
and  maturest  works  from  foreign  lands  are 
carried  over  the  boundaries  and  the  home  is 
radiant  with  the  wisdom  and  beauty  and  in- 
spiration of  the  cultural  universe.  But  the 
heart  of  the  nationalist  will  find  more  joy  in 
the  humble  flower  grown  in  the  soil  of  his 
fathers.  He  will  not  disregard  the  achieve- 

31 


TOMORROW 

ments  of  the  world,  but  lie  will  welcome  them 
from  abroad  only  to  fertilize  the  native 
growth.  There  had  been  too  much  shallow 
imitation  in  the  world,  too  much  disregard 
for  the  genius  of  the  spiritual  traditions,  too 
great  enjoyment  of  the  latest  comfort  and 
the  cleverest  saying  from  wherever  it  came 
and  too  little  affection  for  the  simpler  cus- 
toms and  franker  speech  and  rime  of  one's 
own  beloved  land.  Everybody  wore  the  same 
frocks,  and  every  shopwindow  was  a  bazaar 
of  four  continents.  Slowly  the  new  turn  had 
set  in  everywhere.  The  more  the  market 
was  filled  with  the  standardized  wares  and 
the  more  easily  every  word  was  spread  by 
wire  and  wireless,  the  more  men  longed  to 
overcome  the  monotony  of  the  colorless  ma- 
chine age  by  new  sympathy  with  all  that 
bears  the  stamp  of  their  own  people.  Earnest 
minds  began  to  understand  again  that  the 
most  lasting  products  of  art  and  science,  of 
law  and  social  morality,  are  those  which  are 
cast  in  the  form  of  national  tradition  and 
that  any  true  development  must  come  from 
within.  The  national  spirit  is  no  longer  any- 
thing accidental;  it  could  not  be  replaced 
by  a  careful  selection  of  the  choicest  gifts 

32 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

from  here  and  there.  To  gain  the  best  from 
everywhere  means  to  lose  the  only  gift  which 
has  eternal  value. 

From  this  conviction  that  the  nation's  in- 
dividuality and  character  have  lasting  value 
in  themselves  it  is  only  one  step  to  the  be- 
lief in  the  national  message.  It  is  not  enough 
that  we  love  the  treasures  of  our  mental  and 
moral  traditions;  we  ought  to  be  ready  to 
defend  them  against  foes  from  within  and 
without,  to  strain  every  fiber  to  make  them 
effective  in  the  world  and  to  secure  respect 
for  them  among  strangers.  No  true  nation- 
alism is  at  work  as  long  as  the  feeling  of 
the  heart  has  not  led  to  this  decision  of  the 
will.  It  is  a  task  and  not  a  sentimental  lux- 
ury to  love  one's  national  culture  and  prin- 
ciples. It  is  a  solemn  service  which  must 
be  performed  with  all  the  means  of  intellect 
and  character  in  times  of  peace.  The  aim 
is  to  foster  whatever  encourages  the  national 
energies  and  to  subdue  whatever  hinders 
their  free  unfolding.  But  the  final  aim  is 
still  higher.  If  the  national  characteristic 
traits  are  to  be  made  effective,  all  the  scat- 
tered energies  must  be  forged  together  and 
peoples  of  similar  national  traditions  and 


TOMORROW 

similar  longings  must  be  brought  into  pro- 
ductive contact.  Fanatic  minds  will  be  read- 
ily inclined  to  mold  such  hopes  in  a  political 
cast  and  to  threaten  the  realistic  world  by 
idealistic  dreams  of  Pan-Slavism  or  Pan- 
Romanism  or  Pan-Germanism.  But  the 
more  immediate  tasks  are  not  determined  by 
such  adventurous  programs,  which  can  be 
realized  only  by  disturbing  the  nationalistic 
circles  of  neighbors.  The  real  duty  is  con- 
fined to  defense,  but  this  defense  must  be 
carried  through  with  all  the  powerful  means 
which  secure  protection  for  national  mind 
and  body,  and  the  individual  must  be  ready 
for  sacrifice.  Military  preparedness  then  be- 
comes the  moral  duty  of  a  healthy  nation 
and  the  statesmen  help  to  prepare  by  alli- 
ances which  look  into  the  future  in  order  to 
secure  the  boundaries  and  the  freedom  of  the 
beloved  nation. 

But  even  alliances  are  only  makeshifts. 
The  nationalistic  spirit  craves  that  safety 
which  comes  from  perfect  independence.  The 
national  body  ought  to  stand  firm  on  its 
own  feet.  The  land  ought  to  be  able  to  sup- 
port itself  from  its  own  resources.  Nothing 
less  can  secure  the  lasting  protection  of  the 

34 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

national  sonl.  Such  an  instinctive  demand 
may  not  seldom  stimulate  the  hope  for  ex- 
pansion. Wherever  artificial  boundaries 
have  been  set  or  where  the  growing  enter- 
prise of  the  population  is  choked  by  the  nar- 
row limits  of  a  poorer  past,  new  chances  will 
be  passionately  sought.  Colonies  will  be 
grasped,  seaports  will  be  sought,  and  areas 
with  untapped  mines  will  be  coveted ;  and  yet 
it  would  be  historically  untrue  to  stamp  even 
such  aspirations  as  selfish  aggressiveness  and 
as  immoral  lust  of  the  conqueror.  This  is 
after  all  the  fundamental  difference :  Selfish- 
ness in  individuals  or  nations  seeks  pleasure, 
advantage,  enjoyment,  happiness,  but  nation- 
alistic ambition  serves  an  idea,  is  loyalty  and 
faithfulness  in  the  fulfillment  of  a  mission 
which  is  received  from  history.  Nor  is  such 
an  idealistic  devotion  to  the  demands  of  the 
national  soul  antagonistic  to  the  belief  in 
humanity.  Humanity  and  nationalism  alike 
are  the  foes  of  mere  selfishness. 

This  was  the  spirit  which  slowly  grew  and 
grew  in  the  last  twenty  years  and  which  had 
taken  firm  hold  of  many  a  nation  before  the 
war  broke  out  and  without  which  the  war 
would  not  have  come  to  such  world-wide  ex- 


TOMORROW 

pansion.  No  wonder  that  the  war  itself  re- 
enforced  this  sentiment  everywhere.  Nothing 
can  unite  a  nation  more  firmly  than  the  com- 
mon danger,  the  common  sacrifice.  And 
there  were  dangers  and  sacrifices  not  only 
for  the  belligerents ;  everyone  of  the  neutral 
lands  too  suddenly  saw  its  special  risk  and 
its  special  task.  There  was  no  nation  on 
earth  to  which  in  these  hours  of  the  Euro- 
pean crisis  the  uniqueness  of  its  character 
did  not  appear  in  sharper  relief  than  before. 
The  large  nations  and  the  small  ones,  the 
old  and  the  young,  those  who  fought  with  the 
sword  and  those  who  fought  with  diplomacy, 
were  all  touched  by  the  wing  of  history  and 
heard  the  call  of  the  nationalistic  message. 
A  world  period  which  begins  with  such  an 
enthusiastic  pledge  of  nationalistic  loyalty 
will  not  soon  lose  its  impulse.  Whatever  ful- 
fillments or  disappointments  the  world  peace 
may  bring,  it  will  leave  the  nations  all  over 
the  globe  in  the  tension  of  heightened  nation- 
alism for  many  a  year  to  come. 

Only  if  we  have  drawn  such  a  sharp  de- 
marcation line  between  national  loyalty  and 
national  selfishness  can  we  do  justice  to  those 
who  with  excited  words  appeal  to  the  court 

36 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

of  public  opinion.  Just  here  in  America  not 
a  few  of  the  most  earnest  spectators  speak 
half  in  disgust  and  half  in  despair  about  the 
discussions  which  leaders  of  thought  have 
started  in  these  troubled  times.  They  can- 
not harmonize  the  harsh  onesidedness  of 
French  and  German,  English,  Austrian  and 
Eussian  scholars  with  their  lifework,  which 
ought  to  be  devoted  to  the  truth  and  nothing 
but  the  truth.  I  think  it  is  a  low  view  of 
scholarly  truth  and  a  lower  view  of  patriot- 
ism which  misleads  so  many  to  such  a  crit- 
icism. They  fancy  that  truth  is  only  a  kind 
of  photographic  copy  of  an  outer  reality. 
They  are  not  aware  that  every  so-called  truth 
is  a  remolding  of  life  impressions,  a  recon- 
struction of  experience,  a  free  creation  of  the 
intellect,  which  can  never  be  severed  from 
the  purposes  of  the  creating  mind.  Hence 
the  scholar  who,  uplifted  by  a  healthy  pa- 
triotism, proclaims  historic  and  political 
facts  as  they  appear  from  the  angle  of  his 
hopes  and  as  he  sees  them  shaped  by  his  na- 
tionalism is  not  disloyal  to  the  spirit  of 
scholarship.  Any  mathematics  and  chem- 
istry of  political  actions  is  unthinkable.  To 
be  a  Frenchman  means  to  affirm  with  thought 

37 


TOMORROW 

and  will  the  purposes  and  ideals  of  the 
French  nation;  and  nobody  is  a  German  but 
he  who  realizes  through  his  will  the  values 
and  aims  of  the  German  national  soul.  If 
Bergson  and  Eucken  stand  up  with  different 
claims  about  the  war,  they  do  not  deny  the 
highmindedness  of  the  philosopher;  they  are 
loyal  to  the  ideas  of  the  truthseeker  just  be- 
cause they  affirm  the  values  and  ideals  in 
which  they  believe.  Either  serves  the  truth 
as  long  as  all  the  judgments  of  his  mind  are 
in  agreement  with  one  another :  truth  is  ulti- 
mately belief. 

But  while  our  beliefs  may  clash,  no  hatred 
ought  to  darken  our  vision.  The  mutual 
hatred  of  nations  lowers  the  nationalistic 
solemnity.  It  may  be  true  that  in  the  first 
heat  of  the  war  the  readiness  for  the  needed 
sacrifice  can  be  stirred  up  most  forcefully 
by  the  injection  of  hatred.  This  may  also  be 
added:  Even  the  feeling  of  hate  is  more  fit 
for  the  strife  of  the  nations  than  the  spirit 
of  sport  which  many  spectators  here  would 
like  to  substitute.  If  anything  can  excuse 
the  calamity  of  the  European  war,  it  is  the 
undeniable  fact  that  everybody  has  entered 
into  it  with  a  nationalistic  conviction  that 

38 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

reaches  the  core  of  his  personality.  An  al- 
most sacred  emotion  of  duty  has  consecrated 
the  national  sword.  It  would  be  desecrated 
if  instead  of  it  the  lover  of  «port  were  to 
carry  the  day  and  if  the  victory  were  to  ap- 
pear not  as  a  decision  on  ideal  values  of  life 
but  as  a  mere  record  on  the  battlefield. 

The  pure  nationalist,  however,  knows 
neither  hatred  nor  sport.  His  aim  is  neither 
to  destroy  nor  simply  to  measure  himself 
with  the  opposing  forces.  His  real  goal  is 
the  positive  upbuilding  of  the  national  ener- 
gies. He  wants  to  create  a  lasting  good 
which  never  excludes  the  growth  of  foreign 
values.  Hence  he  will  respect  the  opponent 
who  is  loyal  to  his  own  historic  convictions 
and  who  courageously  affirms  cultural  faith 
by  the  sacrifice  of  his  life.  His  own  loyalty, 
stronger  than  death,  will  not  interfere  with 
luminous  justice. 

It  seems  that  the  hatred  in  the  belligerent 
countries  has  slowly  burned  itself  out  and 
even  here  beyond  the  sea  it  will  not  linger 
much  longer.  There  is  a  land  where  hatred 
expires,  a  land  of  many  patriotisms.  The 
editorial  ships  of  London  and  Berlin  have 
reached  its  shore.  Finally  even  the  captains 
39 


TOMORROW 

of  the  New  York  press  will  steer  toward  it 
too.  Even  the  gay  yachts  of  the  London 
Punch  and  the  Munich  Jugend  now  lie  in  the 
harbor  of  that  land ;  it  may  be  that  the  New 
York  Life  will  reach  it  too.  But  while  the 
hatred  disappears,  the  cruel  misjudgment  of 
hostile  nationalism  is  still  at  work,  and  es- 
pecially German  aspirations  are  still  depicted 
among  earnest  observers  as  if  nationalism 
were  nothing  but  selfishness  and  the  con- 
queror's lust.  Germany  appears  as  a  dis- 
turber of  the  world's  equilibrium,  a  possible 
danger  even  to  the  American  continents,  if 
it  cannot  be  crushed  in  the  European  strug- 
gle. The  social  psychologist  feels  sure  that 
the  makeup  of  the  German  mind  discredits 
such  historic  misinterpretations. 

Germany  presents  mentally  a  threefold 
contrast  to  other  leading  countries  of  Eu- 
rope. The  German  psychological  setting  is 
marked  off  from  that  of  the  Latin  peoples. 
The  south  of  Europe  has  had  through  thou- 
sands of  years  a  distinct  mental  physiog- 
nomy: the  Italians,  the  Spanish,  the  French, 
have  fundamental  traits  in  common  with  the 
Greeks  and  Romans  of  old.  Their  thinking 
is  simple  and  clear  and  their  joy  goes  out 

40 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

to  the  elementary  appealing  impressions. 
Other  men  grow  up  under  the  northern  sky. 
German  thought  is  complex  and  German  joy 
greets  those  things  which  are  interwoven 
with  abstract  reflections.  Imperialistic  con- 
quest is  a  thoroughly  Latin  desire :  An  Alex- 
ander or  a  Caesar,  a  Louis  XIV  or  a  Napoleon 
would  be  out  of  harmony  with  German  emo- 
tions. The  lust  of  conquest  is  an  instinctive 
desire  for  the  elementary  joy  in  power;  it 
compares  with  the  policies  of  the  German 
leaders  throughout  German  history  as  Italian 
music  and  its  love  for  the  sensuous  melody 
compares  with  German  music  and  its  joy 
in  counterpoint.  Germany's  nationalism  is 
never  Napoleonic,  never  Latin  imperialism. 

But  Germany's  feelings  also  contrast  in 
many  points  with  those  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
world.  Only  one  point  is  important  here. 
The  British  Empire  is  filled  with  belief 
in  strength;  that  is  developed  through 
England's  geographic  position.  Her  self- 
conscious  strength  has  overpowered  the 
world.  Its  mental  spring  is  the  idea  of  quan- 
tity. It  is  only  natural  that  the  Anglo-Saxon 
adores  sport  with  its  conception  of  record 
— record  is  always  quantity.  But  the  Ger- 

41 


TOMORROW 

man  mind  is  strangely  indifferent  to  the  glory 
of  quantity;  in  contrast  to  it  the  German 
loves  quality.  This  trend  has  made  the 
Teuton  the  loser  when  the  world  was  parti- 
tioned, and  too  often  it  has  tempted  him  to 
spend  his  time  with  small  administrative  de- 
tails instead  of  with  the  big  political  move- 
ments. But  surely  the  imperialistic  frame  of 
mind  is  natural  to  those  peoples  who  think 
in  arguments  of  quantity,  but  entirely  for- 
eign to  those  whose  thought  treads  in  the 
path  of  qualitative  ideas.  German  national- 
ism is  never  British  imperialism. 

The  contrast  with  Russia  is  no  less  sharp. 
The  marvelous  growth  of  the  Russian  Em- 
pire has  been  due  to  the  persistent  energy 
with  which  it  subjugated  surrounding  peo- 
ples from  the  Baltic  to  the  Pacific.  It  was 
favored  in  this  by  geographic  conditions.  No 
natural  obstacles  stood  in  the  way.  Peoples 
of  any  race,  of  any  language,  of  any  religion, 
of  any  tradition,  are  forced  together  under 
one  ruthless  regime.  The  Russian  unity  is 
therefore  external  and  mechanical;  the  Ger- 
man unity  is  thoroughly  internal  and  organic 
— it  is  developed  from  the  community  of  his- 
tory. Russia  would  be  perfectly  consistent 

42 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

if  it  continued  to  conquer  any  neighboring 
land.  Even  if  it  were  to  absorb  all  Germany, 
Austria,  Italy  and  France,  it  would  only  con- 
tinue the  policy  which  it  has  followed  in  the 
last  three  centuries.  But  Germany  would  be 
disloyal  to  its  own  high  past  if  it  were  to 
overpower  foreign  peoples  with  different 
languages  and  traditions.  German  nation- 
alism is  never  Russian  imperialism.  Latin, 
Anglo-Saxon  and  Slavic  empires  may  van- 
quish the  world — the  Germans  never  had 
and  never  will  have  imperialistic  ambitions. 
They  believe  in  their  mission,  and  their  mis- 
sion is  not  to  subdue  the  globe  with  the 
sword. 

What  are  the  true  German  aspirations?  I 
know  we  all  have  met  some  imaginative  Ger- 
mans who  like  to  talk  the  imperialistic  slang. 
I  suppose  I  have  seen  in  my  Boston  home 
even  more  of  them  than  you  ever  saw  in  Ber- 
lin, because  I  have  always  been  overrun  by 
the  German  globe-trotters.  When  they  travel 
around  the  world  their  fancy  is  likely  to  be 
inflamed  by  the  British  power.  At  the  after 
dinner  coffee  they  like  to  girdle  the  seas  with 
German  Gibraltars.  But  surely  no  respon- 
sible German  politician  and  no  earnest  Ger- 

43 


TOMORROW 

man  thinker  indulges  in  such  un-German 
Germanism.  The  nationalism  of  the  father- 
land is  confined  to  the  firm  demand  for  the 
protection  and  development  of  the  German 
people  with  its  characteristic  German  civili- 
zation and  for  an  influence  in  the  world  which 
corresponds  to  the  inner  value  of  its  achieve- 
ments. Such  a  claim  does  not  injure  or 
threaten  anyone,  but  it  gives  impulse  and 
strength  to  the  nation  and  secures  its  healthy 
future. 

This  self -protection  must  be  both  economic 
and  political.  I  think  we  are  too  little  aware 
how  much  the  history  of  Prussia  and  of  Ger- 
many throughout  the  last  three  hundred 
years  has  stood  under  the  pressure  of  eco- 
nomic needs  and  especially  of  the  need  for 
commerce  over  the  sea.  Was  not  even  the 
alliance  with  Austria  and  Italy  guided  by  the 
instinctive  longing  for  harbors,  when  the  ac- 
cess to  the  North  Sea  was  no  longer  sufficient  ? 
The  hopes  of  today  turn  to  the  new  economic 
path  from  Berlin  to  Constantinople  and  be- 
yond. The  peaceful  conquest  by  German  in- 
dustries depends  upon  the  roads  to  the  world 
through  friendly  lands.  But  the  longing  for 
protection  by  economic  independence  cannot 

44 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

be  satisfied  without  expansive,  and  for  a 
while  probably  expensive,  colonies.  We  all 
talk  about  Germany  as  if  it  stood  in  line  with 
England,  France  and  Eussia,  and  we  forget 
how  small  its  territorial  possessions  are  com- 
pared with  the  three  others.  Large  unde- 
veloped areas  in  Africa  and  western  Asia  still 
demand  the  effort  of  the  Europeans  in  order 
to  yield  an  economic  harvest.  Germany 
hopes  for  a  larger  share  in  this  common  task. 
Its  population  is  steadily  growing;  the  over- 
flow streamed  too  long  into  lands  where  it 
was  lost  for  the  German  nation  and  its  work. 
From  the  nationalistic  standpoint  it  was  a 
waste  and  loss.  As  soon  as  new  colonies 
offer  homesteads  to  the  emigrant,  the  hu- 
man material  is  saved  for  German  civiliza- 
tion. But  at  the  same  time  the  colonies  can 
be  fields  of  production  for  the  raw  material 
which  German  home  industry  needs  and 
fields  of  consumption  for  the  finished  prod- 
ucts which  German  factories  offer.  Truly 
the  increase  of  colonial  possessions  for  eco- 
nomic protection  of  the  nation  cannot  disap- 
pear again  from  the  nationalistic  program. 
Yet  commerce  and  industry  cannot  be  sep- 
arated today  from  the  political  hopes  and 

45 


TOMORROW 

cares.  The  colonies  are  not  safe  without  a 
strong  fleet.  Above  all,  the  boundaries  of  the 
home  land  must  be  protected  against  inva- 
sion if  the  fires  of  the  factories  are  never  to 
burn  out. 

Germany  is  convinced  that  the  war  was 
planfully  forced  on  it  by  the  alliance  of  its 
neighbors.  It  is  true  that  the  German  vic- 
tories east  and  west  have  made  the  neutral 
world  forget  how  confidently  the  Russian  and 
French  armies  hoped  to  meet  at  the  Branden- 
burg Gate  in  Berlin.  By  a  natural  illusion 
the  victorious  army  appears  the  aggressor. 
But  every  German  felt  that  the  strongest 
military  coalition  which  the  world  has  seen 
threatened  every  hearth  and  home  on  Ger- 
man soil,  and  the  spirit  of  German  nation- 
alism will  never  rest  until  it  is  made  sure 
that  this  menace  is  averted  from  the  chil- 
dren's children  of  the  soldiers  of  today.  But 
the  physical  devastation  of  German  prov- 
inces is  not  the  only  danger  against  which 
the  people  firmly  demands  protection.  It 
suffered  too  long  from  the  checking  of  Ger- 
man enterprise  by  the  diplomatic  alliance  of 
its  adversaries  under  English  control.  The 
European  war,  after  all,  began  not  at  Sera- 
46 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

jevo  but  at  Algeciras.  England  ruled  the 
waves,  England  ruled  the  colonies,  England 
ruled  the  canals,  England  ruled  the  cables, 
and  finally  it  ruled  the  neighbors  of  Ger- 
many. 

The  German  nation  feels  such  pressure  in- 
tolerable. Its  nationalistic  resolution  is  not 
only  to  protect  Germany  against  the  mili- 
tarism of  Russia,  which  is  eager  to  expand, 
but  against  the  diplomatism  of  England,  which 
is  eager  to  prevent  everybody  else  from  ex- 
panding. Yet  tariffs  and  custom  unions,  ma- 
chine guns  and  cruisers,  laboratories  and  or- 
ganizations will  not  be  sufficient  to  secure 
such  national  safety.  Not  only  the  economic 
and  political,  but  most  of  all  the  cultural  and 
moral  preparedness  will  be  needed.  A  stub- 
born belief  is  essential,  a  belief  in  the  unique 
human  value  of  German  traits,  achievements 
and  ideals.  The  new  nationalist  feels  that  the 
Germans  have  too  much  admired  everything 
foreign,  and  imitated  the  cultural  fashion 
from  everywhere.  This  is  the  inheritance  of 
long  ages  of  German  political  infirmity. 
Germany  has  grown  strong  and  the  German 
must  at  last  learn  to  have  the  courage  of  his 
own  convictions.  Only  this  faith  in  the  na- 

47 


TOMORROW 

tive  character,  only  this  education  to  national 
pride,  can  prepare  the  country  for  an  age 
of  safety  and  honor. 

But  moral  uniqueness  is  not  egotistic  con- 
ceit, and  joyful  belief  in  national  values  is  not 
a  blindness  to  the  noble  traits  of  other  na- 
tions nor  a  narrow  prejudice  against  their 
mission.  No  German  fancies  that  English 
or  French,  Italian  or  Russian  civilization 
can  be  crushed,  and  no  German  plays  with 
the  wish  that  such  a  misfortune  befall  man- 
kind. More  than  that,  with  open  eyes  he 
foresees  that  the  nationalism  in  all  the  other 
European  states  will  increase  powerfully 
too.  Victory  or  defeat  will  not  change  this 
outcome:  from  Finland  to  Spain  the  be- 
lief in  the  native  soil,  in  the  native  traits,  in 
the  native  traditions  and  in  the  native  mis- 
sion, will  grow  and  flourish,  for  the  roots  of 
European  nationalism  have  been  drenched 
with  the  blood  of  millions  of  heroes.  And 
America? 

But  America  is  too  big  for  a  mere  post- 
script. Whoever  writes  down  America  must 
take  a  large  new  letter  sheet.  Hence  I  shall 
leave  the  United  States  of  America  for  my 
next  epistle — a  Swedish  steamer  goes  in  three 

48 


THE  NEW  NATIONALISM 

days,  but  the  Danish  ship  today  may  still 
carry,  besides  all  this  political  wisdom,  most 
cordial  greetings  from  my  family  to  yours. 

Faithfully  yours, 
H.  M. 


in 

i 

NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND: 

I  do  not  remember:  did  I  ever  tell  you 
about  my  queer  experience  at  the  Interna- 
tional Peace  Conference  in  Carnegie  Hall  in 
New  York  nine  years  ago?  It  impressed  it- 
self on  my  mind,  as  I  think  it  was  the  only 
occasion  when  I  ever  was  scolded  like  a  little 
schoolboy  before  a  large  jubilant  audience. 
Mr.  Carnegie  presided.  After  some  effer- 
vescent peace  speeches  I  was  to  present  the 
German  standpoint,  and  my  address  was  a 
sincere  effort  to  interpret  Germany's  deep 
desire  for  peace,  and  yet  to  characterize  the 
threatening  realities  around  her.  I  insisted, 
above  all,  that  clear  understanding  is  neces- 
sary, and  that  nobody  understands  the  Ger- 
man nation  who  fancies,  as  some  speakers 
had  done,  that  Germany  feels  her  army  as  an 
intolerable  burden.  The  truth  is,  I  said,  that 

50 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

the  German  people  loves  its  army  and  con- 
siders it  a  splendid  school  of  training  and 
discipline  and  is  convinced  that  only  a  thor- 
ough preparedness  can  save  the  country 
from  the  European  menace.  Then  Mr.  Car- 
negie arose,  and  forgetting  that  he  was  the 
chairman  entered  into  a  most  formidable 
speech  of  reply.  He  was  too  old,  he  said, 
still  to  learn  from  a  professor.  He  knew  bet- 
ter ;  he  knew  that  the  German  army  and  this 
so-called  state  of  preparedness  is  the  misery 
and  the  ruin  of  the  country,  and  every  Ger- 
man has  no  wish  but  to  escape  from  such 
military  servitude.  America  is  not  the  place, 
he  shouted,  with  the  frantic  applause  of  the 
galleries,  to  proclaim  such  medieval  ideas. 
Military  preparedness  is  everywhere  in  the 
world  only  the  cover  for  a  spirit  of  aggres- 
siveness. America  is  the  land  of  peace,  and 
is  the  good  friend  of  every  nation  on  earth. 
The  louder  he  shouted  the  more  jubilant  the 
balconies  became,  and  the  more  I  was  ex- 
pected to  sink  through  the  floor  from  shame. 
I  do  not  blame  the  dear  old  man  in  the 
least.  He  wrote  me  a  beautiful  letter  the 
next  day  and  gave  me  a  few  weeks  later  half 
a  million  marks  for  a  research  institute  in 

51 


Berlin.  But  that  hour  in  Carnegie  Hall  has 
often  flitted  through  my  mind  in  the  last  few 
months  when  I  heard  oratory  against  peace 
at  any  price,  or  stood  on  the  sidewalk  for 
hours  to  see  the  preparedness  parades  pass 
by  and  finally  in  New  York  and  Boston  to 
see  the  regiments  march  out  to  fight  in  Mex- 
ico. Yet  this  doubleness  of  soul  was  not  a 
surprise  to  me.  I  always  felt  this  contradic- 
tion in  the  mind  of  the  American  public. 
Twelve  years  ago  in  my  first  effort  to  ana- 
lyze American  life  from  a  psychological  point 
of  view  I  wrote  in  my  book  ''The  Ameri- 
cans": "In  the  attitude  of  the  Americans 
toward  foreign  affairs  the  love  of  peace  and 
the  delight  in  war  combine  to  make  a  contrast 
which  has  rarely  been  seen.  Doubtless  there 
is  an  apparent  contradiction  here,  but  this 
contradiction  is  the  historic  mark  of  the  na- 
tional American  temperament  and  it  is  not 
to  be  supposed  that  the  contradiction  is 
solved  by  ascribing  these  diverse  opinions  to 
diverse  elements  in  the  population,  by  saying 
that  one  group  of  citizens  is  more  warlike, 
another  more  peaceful.  The  most  character- 
istic feature  is  that  just  those  who  show  the 
love  for  war  most  energetically  are  never- 

52 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

theless  concerned  and  most  earnestly  so  for 
the  advance  of  peace."  At  that  early  date 
I  continued:  "President  Roosevelt  is  the 
most  striking  example  of  the  profound  com- 
bination of  these  opposing  tendencies  in  one 
human  breast."  In  the  same  spirit  I  said: 
"Everything  works  together  under  the  pro- 
tection of  the  American  constitution  to  pro- 
duce a  splendid  home  in  the  new  world  for 
peace.  America  is  the  one  world  power 
which  makes  for  peace  and  it  will  only  de- 
pend on  the  future  growth  of  this  nation, 
which  has  been  ordained  to  become  such  an 
example,  whether  the  idea  of  peace  will  fin- 
ally prevail  throughout  the  world,  over  the 
immoral  settlement  of  disputes  by  mere  force 
of  arms.  All  this  is  not  merely  the  pro- 
gram of  a  party,  but  the  confession  of 
faith  of  every  American.  It  has  impressed 
itself  so  fully  on  the  consciousness  of  the 
American  people  that  it  gives  to  the  whole 
nation  a  feeling  of  moral  superiority.  And 
this  conviction  is  so  admirable  that  it  has 
always  been  contagious,  and  all  Europe  has 
become  quite  accustomed  to  considering  the 
republic  across  the  water  as  the  firmest  par- 
tisan of  peace.  The  republic  has  in  fact  been 

53 


TOMORROW 

this,  is  now  and  always  will  be  so,  while  the 
riddle  is — how  it  can  be  such  a  friend  of  peace 
when  it  was  conceived  in  war,  has  settled  its 
most  serious  problems  by  war,  has  gone  to 
war  again  and  again,  has  almost  played  with 
declarations  of  war,  is  at  war  today  and  pre- 
sumably will  be  at  war  many  times  again." 
But  while  the  lion-like  and  the  lamb-like 
tendencies  have  always  been  together  in  the 
American  mind,  there  are  periods  in  which 
the  one  prevails  and  periods  in  which  the 
other  triumphs.  No  doubt  the  martial  spirit 
has  again  today  taken  hold  of  the  American 
people;  and  yet  the  military  training  and 
preparing  and  fighting  are  this  time  only  a 
part  of  a  greater  movement.  The  turn  of 
the  nation  against  actual,  possible  or  imagi- 
nary enemies  is  only  an  expression  of  the  re- 
markable growth  of  a  new  nationalism.  The 
uprising  of  the  people  in  arms  was  no  less, 
perhaps  even  more  powerful,  in  1898.  The 
liberation  of  Cuba  stirred  more  enthusiasm 
than  the  cleaning  up  of  Mexico ;  but  the  mili- 
tary movement  of  those  days  was  isolated; 
it  was  a  political  task  which  had  to  be  per- 
formed. The  uprising  against  Spain  was  not 
a  part  of  a  larger  movement.  This  time  army 

54 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

and  navy,  party  politics  and  government  are 
all  subordinated  to  a  much  greater  issue  than 
the  disorder  on  the  southern  boundaries. 
The  true  issue  is  Americanism,  and  that 
means  exactly  the  type  of  nationalism  which 
has  grown  in  Europe  in  the  last  decade,  which 
led  to  the  European  war  and  which  will  swell 
as  never  before  when  the  war  is  over. 

No  doubt  the  movement  came  over  the 
ocean.  American  nationalism  had  been  sub- 
dued in  the  last  ten  years.  The  beginning  of 
the  century  had  been  a  period  of  struggle  for 
social  improvement,  a  time  of  muckraking 
and  industrial  readjustments,  a  time  of 
progressive  political  thought  and  most  of  all 
a  time  of  luxury  and  enjoyment.  In  periods 
of  such  a  type  the  voice  of  nationalism  is 
little  heard.  But  suddenly  all  this  has 
changed.  The  sympathies  with  the  belligerent 
countries  threatened  to  separate  the  racial 
elements  in  the  United  States;  the  issue 
of  true  Americanism  became  unavoidable. 
Moreover  the  uproar  in  Europe  forced  the 
idea  of  a  possible  clash  on  the  excited  imag- 
ination of  the  people  and  the  reaction  was 
a  terrorized  feeling  of  unpreparedness.  But 
it  is  hardly  necessary  to  seek  one  or  another 

55 


TOMORROW 

special  cause.  We  all  know  this  world  war 
was  from  the  beginning  really  a  war  of  the 
world.  No  country  remained  unshaken,  no 
country  could  remain  unstirred  by  the  trum- 
pet call  of  nationalism  with  which  the  genius 
of  history  awoke  mankind  to  an  age  of  new 
inspirations.  No  doubt  American  nation- 
alism has  and  always  will  have  its  character- 
istic features,  just  as  the  nationalism  of  Rus- 
sia is  not  that  of  France  and  that  of  Germany 
not  that  of  England.  But  fundamentally  it 
remains  the  same;  and  even  when  public 
opinion  in  America  endeavors  to  emphasize 
that  its  nationalistic  aims  are  better  than 
those  of  other  lands,  it  simply  speaks  the 
language  which  is  heard  in  every  country  and 
proves  by  it  that  this  difference  is  an  illusion. 
To  be  sure  we  hear  that  America's  prepar- 
ation is  not  militaristic,  because  the  country 
would  never  enter  into  an  aggressive  war,  but 
would  fight  only  in  self-defense.  But  no  Eu- 
ropean country  has  ever  pretended  to  have  an 
army  for  any  other  purpose.  The  whole 
phraseology  remains  the  same.  When  South 
America  tried  to  bring  about  arbitration  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Mexico,  the 
Washington  government  declined  emphati- 

56 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

cally  because  the  honor  of  America  was  in- 
volved and  therefore  no  arbitration  was  pos- 
sible. The  honor  of  the  country  was  involved : 
that  was  the  battle  cry  in  Austria  and  then  in 
Eussia,  and  so  on.  Ten  years  ago  every  Amer- 
ican felt  sure  that  the  true  honor  of  the  coun- 
try demanded  first  of  all  to  avoid  the  use  of 
the  elastic  word  honor  in  any  conflict  with  an- 
other power.  Today  every  American  feels 
just  as  sure  that  the  true  honor  of  the  coun- 
try demands :  to  look  on  every  conflict  with  a 
foreign  power  first  of  all  from  the  stand- 
point of  national  honor.  The  one  was  right 
and  the  other  is  right;  the  one  was  felt  in 
full  sincerity,  and  the  other  controlled  by  mo- 
tives no  less  high.  The  times  have  simply 
changed.  The  new  nationalism  has  swept 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 

It  was  most  natural  that  the  nationalistic 
awakening  led  first  of  all  to  the  nation-wide 
cry  for  military  preparedness.  As  you  have 
visited  America  repeatedly,  you  know  how 
the  public  loves  exaggeration  and  how  every 
new  campaign  is  likely  to  show  hysteric  fea- 
tures. The  press  and  the  film  and  the  orators 
have  been  outdoing  one  another  and  as — 
fortunately  for  American  unity,  unfortu- 

57 


TOMORROW 

nately  for  American  soberness — nobody 
dares  or  nobody  cares  to  resist  the  fashion 
of  the  day,  the  much  despised  old  world  arma- 
ment has  suddenly  been  made  the  prescrip- 
tion of  every  class  and  of  every  party.  When 
the  preparedness  parades  were  organized 
they  came  too  late  to  convince  anybody.  No 
on-looker  was  left  who  did  not  beforehand 
agree  with  the  paraders.  To  be  sure,  it  was 
not  difficult  to  demonstrate  the  actual  un- 
preparedness,  and  when  it  came  to  the  first 
expedition  to  Mexico  the  lack  of  equipment 
was  still  more  alarming  than  had  been  sup- 
posed. The  Bull  Moose  party  platform  went 
furthest:  "Preparedness  in  arms  requires  a 
navy  restored  to  at  least  second  rank  in  bat- 
tle efficiency,  a  regular  army  of  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  men  fully  armed  and 
trained  as  the  first  line  land  defense,  and  sys- 
tematic military  training  adequate  to  organ- 
ize with  promptness  a  citizen  soldiery  sup- 
plied, armed  and  controlled  by  the  national 
government.  In  our  democracy  every  male 
citizen  is  charged  with  the  duty  of  defending 
his  country."  The  call  of  the  two  old  par- 
ties sounded  a  little  fainter,  and  yet  a  thor- 
ough and  complete  national  defense,  ready 

58 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

for  any  emergency,  appeared  equally  impor- 
tant at  the  St.  Louis  and  at  the  Chicago  con- 
vention. 

Psychologically  it  was  especially  interest- 
ing to  watch  how  the  need,  as  soon  as  it  was 
practically  felt,  was  bolstered  up  with  re- 
publican arguments.  In  the  early  days  of 
the  European  war  the  German  armies  had 
been  denounced  vehemently  as  the  instru- 
ment of  dynastic  interests  and  the  German 
nation  was  pitied  for  being  forced  into 
the  army  service  by  brutal  autocrats.  Of 
course,  it  seemed  fitting  that  such  tyrannical 
conscription  should  yoke  the  empire  of  the 
czar  too;  but  no  western  country  could  look 
on  such  army  service  otherwise  than  as  a 
menace  to  freedom  and  democracy.  Public 
opinion  almost  forgot  that  democratic  France 
had  prepared  still  more  eagerly  than  Ger- 
many, demanding  three  years  of  service  from 
everybody  where  Germany  demands  one  or 
two  years  only.  It  was  forgotten  too  that  in 
poor  Germany,  where  the  true  people  is  said 
to  hate  this  army  service,  no  less  than  two 
million  volunteers  insisted  on  being  enlisted 
in  addition  to  the  gigantic  army  of  regulars 
and  reservists.  Those  who  knew  the  spirit 

59 


TOMORROW 

of  Germany  protested  at  that  time  and  as- 
sured the  American  world  that  the  German 
army  is  a  most  democratic  institution.  To- 
day the  whole  American  nation  harps  on  this 
string.  Indeed  what  can  be  more  democratic 
than  that  each  man,  rich  and  poor,  educated 
and  uneducated,  be  expected  to  offer  his  mind 
and  body  for  the  defense  of  his  country? 

But  those  who  knew  added  that  the  Ger- 
mans considered  their  army  service  not  only 
a  technical  means  of  defense,  but  as  the  best 
school  for  efficient  manhood  and  self-disci- 
pline. American  public  opinion  has  finally 
come  around  to  this  argument  too.  The  last 
number  of  the  Army  and  Navy  Journal 
speaks  frankly  of  "the  fact  that  we  need  in 
the  United  States  some  force  more  powerful 
than  our  present  educational  system  to  serve 
as  a  corrective  of  the  appalling  disregard  of 
law  and  of  life 's  amenities. ' '  In  fact  General 
Wood  said  only  the  other  day  in  the  course 
of  a  public  address  that  "military  training 
would  probably  have  a  good  effect  toward 
lowering  the  excessively  high  murder  rate  in 
this  country.  .  .  .  Officers  on  recruiting  duty 
are  getting  to  be  more  and  more  of  the  opin- 
ion that  the  freedom  of  contact  for  growing 

60 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

lads  afforded  by  large  cities  must  be  checked 
in  some  way,  and  look  toward  compulsory 
military  service  as  a  corrective,  disciplining 
force  of  no  mean  ability  as  a  power  for  good." 
' '  Compulsory  military  service  may  as  yet  be 
distasteful  to  many  Americans,  but  there  is  a 
slowly  growing  belief  in  its  power  as  a  cor- 
rective of  general  public  conduct,  at  least, 
that  may  soon  crystallize  into  a  definite  ac- 
tion for  its  introduction  into '  this  country. 
The  fact  that  New  York  State  has  now  made 
it  a  law  to  a  certain  degree  is  one  of  the  most 
signal  evidences  of  the  growth  of  this  idea 
that  has  yet  come  to  pass."  The  demand  for 
preparedness  with  its  democratic  arguments 
is  not  the  only  symptom  of  the  new  American 
nationalism,  which  will  make  the  so-called 
democratic  rebukes  of  autocratic  Germany 
appear  superficial  and  prejudiced.  Even  the 
detestable  and  despised  European  barbarism 
of  gas  bombs  was  taken  as  a  matter  of  course 
as  soon  as  the  papers  announced  the  Amer- 
ican gas  bomb  experiments  when  the  troops 
marched  against  Mexico.  Surely,  however 
little  America  may  be  actually  ready  for 
warfare,  it  has  shown  that  it  is  ready  for 
war. 

61 


TOMORROW 

I  know  not  a  few  in  Germany  believed 
that  the  American  Government  was  playing 
a  game  of  bluff  when  it  threatened  Germany 
with  war.  It  was  the  good  luck  of  the  Ger- 
man nation  that  its  responsible  leaders 
made  moderation  triumphant.  Not  Lansing 
but  Bethmann-Hollweg  secured  the  peace  be- 
tween Germany  and  America.  And  do  not 
forget  that  America  would  have  gone  into 
this  war  with  perfect  knowledge  that  no  Ger- 
man had  the  slightest  feeling  of  hostility 
against  America  and  that  every  one  of  those 
belligerent  German  acts  about  which  Amer- 
ica had  reason  to  complain  were  regretted 
by  the  Germans  too,  as  far  as  the  harm  to 
non-belligerents  was  concerned.  Moreover 
it  was  at  an  hour  at  which  the  first  indigna- 
tion had  long  since  died  out  and  the  issues 
had  become  abstract  and  technical  ones,  the 
Americans  insisting  that  the  submarines 
must  behave  in  accordance  with  the  interna- 
tional prescriptions  agreed  upon  long  before 
submarines  existed,  and  the  Germans  claim- 
ing that  here,  as  in  every  field,  the  new  tech- 
nique must  lead  to  new  international  rules. 
You  remember  that  at  one  stage  of  the  great 
contest  a  compromise  seemed  almost  reached 

62 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

— it  was  when  Lansing  proposed  that  the  sub- 
marines might  treat  the  armed  merchant 
ships  as  warships.  Indeed  the  psychological 
issue  must  not  be  confused  by  bringing  in 
the  American  regret  over  the  lost  lives.  A 
few  months  after  the  Lusitania  the  Eastland 
sank  in  the  harbor  of  Chicago.  It  was  tor- 
pedoed by  carelessness  and  negligence.  Ten 
times  more  Americans  lost  their  lives  there, 
and  yet  within  a  short  time  the  Eastland  and 
the  drowned  victims  were  forgotten.  Re- 
cently the  railways  posted  a  placard  saying 
that  in  the  foregoing  year  five  thousand  two 
hundred  and  forty-seven  Americans  lost  their 
lives  trespassing  on  railroad  property.  This 
could  be  easily  avoided,  but  who  cares  ?  Ten 
times  more  die  from  the  neglect  of  the  sim- 
plest hygienic  measures  in  factories  and 
mines.  No;  it  was  not  the  question  of  the 
lost  lives;  it  was  strictly  a  question  of  the 
abstract  principle  of  right.  But  Germany 
too  certainly  believed  itself  in  the  right.  It 
took  the  stand  that  when  millions  fight 
against  millions  and  a  country  like  Germany 
has  to  defend  itself  against  a  fivefold  su- 
periority it  has  no  moral  right  to  surren- 
der its  most  effective  weapon  because  unin- 
63 


TOMORROW 

tended  harm,  in  spite  of  the  best  will,  may 
befall  a  neutral.  That  standpoint  may  be 
wrong.  It  is  again  an  abstract  legal  ques- 
tion. If  two  great  nations  differ  with  re- 
gard to  rights,  it  is  exactly  the  condition  un- 
der which  arbitration  would  have  appeared 
the  only  justified  solution  to  the  Americans 
of  a  few  years  ago.  But  the  newspapers 
stood  behind  the  President  when  he  insisted 
on  using  force  instead  of  peaceful  means. 
For  it  is  force  when  war  is  threatened 
against  a  people  whom  its  enemies  are  trying 
to  starve  by  a  blockade  and  to  crush  by  the 
armies  of  nine  nations.  Yet  the  President 
could  not  think  otherwise  and  the  papers 
could  not  take  another  stand,  because  the 
wave  of  nationalism  had  swept  away  the 
' '  old-fashioned ' '  ideas. 

But  here,  as  in  Europe,  the  clamor  of  the 
new  nationalism  is  not  only  for  military  and 
political,  but  for  economic  and  cultural  pre- 
paredness as  well.  Of  course,  throughout 
the  last  century  the  plea  for  the  protective 
tariff  has  made  the  most  of  the  argument 
that  home  industries  ought  to  be  strength- 
ened. The  Republican  planks  have  always 
been  in  this  sense  nationalistic,  while  the 

64 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

Democrats  replied  with  humanistic  argu- 
ments. But  this  traditional  support  of  do- 
mestic industries  was  demanded  only  in  the 
interest  of  high  wages  and  higher  dividends. 
The  cheap  importations  were  to  be  kept  from 
the  shores.  The  years  of  war  have  added  an 
entirely  different  motive,  which  has  naturally 
intensified  the  economic  nationalism  and  has 
given  to  it  a  much  deeper  meaning.  Only 
through  the  war  has  the  American  nation 
discovered  that  its  material  freedom  depends 
upon  unhampered  exchange  with  other  na- 
tions, and  that  means  upon  the  goodwill  of 
the  world.  This  time  only  a  fraction,  only 
central  Europe,  was  cut  off;  and  yet  it  was 
sufficient  to  remind  the  large  merchant  and 
the  small  housekeeper  ever  so  often  that 
their  routine  supply  comes  from  everywhere. 
The  doctors  missed  their  drugs,  the  manu- 
facturers their  dyestuffs,  the  publishers 
their  paper,  and  so  on.  The  nationalistic 
plea  for  expansion  of  the  home  industries 
now  meant  a  demand  for  the  undisturbed 
comfort  of  the  nation  in  time  of  danger. 

But  war  opened  other  economic  perspec- 
tives too.  Peace  will  come  and  with  it  the 
greatest  industrial  strife  which  history  has 

65 


TOMORROW 

seen.  Europe  will  be  poor,  but  economically 
not  crippled.  On  the  contrary,  the  factories 
which  have  been  kept  busy  with  ammunition 
for  war  will  turn  with  full  power  to  the  sup- 
plies for  peace,  and  the  men  who  return  from 
the  trenches  will  be  ready  to  work  for  small 
wages.  America  will  have  the  gold  which 
has  flowed  from  Europe  during  the  war; 
Europe  will  have  an  unheard-of  abundance 
of  wares  for  export.  The  market  is  always 
neutral;  buyers  and  sellers  do  not  want  to 
make  political  capital,  but  money.  Will 
America  be  powerful  enough  to  withstand 
the  storm?  Will  peace  in  Europe  mean  in- 
dustrial war  for  the  United  States?  Only  a 
farsighted  legislative  policy  can  promise  sta- 
bility: a  truly  scientific  treatment  of  the 
tariff  question,  not  the  amateurish  one  by 
lobby-ridden  committees,  can  help.  Too  long 
have  the  selfish  interests  of  influential  indus- 
trial groups  controlled  the  market  policy  of 
the  land;  the  interest  of  the  nation  as  such 
must  become  the  new  call.  The  man  in  the 
mill  too  defends  his  country  and  a  real  na- 
tionalism must  become  decisive  in  the  world 
where  the  dollar  rules.  New  labor  laws,  new 
corporation  statutes  and  a  new  policy  which 

66 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

favors  a  strong  merchant  marine  cannot  be 
delayed  any  longer. 

The  problems  have  become  the  more  urgent 
as  the  American  is  quite  aware  that  in  these 
unhappy  days  a  wall  has  arisen  between 
English  and  Latin  America.  The  feelings  of 
South  and  Central  America  were  on  the  side 
of  mangled  Mexico.  Their  latent  instincts 
against  the  patronizing  attitude  of  the 
United  States  have  been  reenforced  by  the 
punitive  expedition.  Why?  Simply  because 
Latin  America  is  also  a  part,  and  a  big  part 
of  this  one  political  economic  universe  which 
has  been  swept  by  the  nationalistic  tornado. 
North  Americans  know  that  the  hoped-for 
expansion  of  trade  and  of  concessions  in 
Latin  America  will  be  for  a  long  while 
hindered  as  a  result  of  the  Villa-Carranza 
mischief.  Nor  does  China  look  promising 
since  Japan  and  Russia  have  joined  hands. 
America  must  find  its  economic  strength  in 
itself. 

This  will  toward  nationalism  has  affected 
even  the  inner  life ;  it  could  not  be  otherwise. 
To  be  sure,  the  great  words  about  American 
leadership,  which  gave  impulse  to  the  na- 
tionalistic platform  discussions  of  state 

67 


TOMORROW 

rights  and  industries,  could  not  well  be  ap- 
plied in  the  sphere  of  spiritual  achievements. 
The  educated  American  knows  and  regrets 
that  the  national  work  in  art,  literature  and 
music,  in  science  and  scholarship,  in  social, 
moral  and  religious  constructive  thought  has 
not  as  yet  fulfilled  the  earnest  hopes  of  the 
world.  He  feels  that  it  does  not  lack  merit, 
but  it  does  lack  distinction  and  true  signifi- 
cance. French  paintings,  German  music  and 
English  poems  have,  after  all,  been  dominant 
in  America.  Many  remedies  have  been  pre- 
scribed. It  can  be  clearly  foreseen  that  the 
prescription  of  tomorrow  will  be  a  moral  pro- 
tective tariff  against  cultural  importation. 
Let  us  go  back  to  our  own  classics  of  the 
golden  Boston  age  instead  of  yielding  to 
the  lure  of  European  decadence.  Let 
us  suppress  the  university  which  has  en- 
croached on  us  from  the  continent  and  let  us 
put  our  emphasis  again  on  the  old  American 
college.  Even  the  scenario  contests  for  the 
film  demand  no  foreign  plots  and  settings: 
let  us  be  thoroughly  American.  "Our  sons 
and  daughters  should  be  educated  here  and 
not  abroad."  Nationalism  has  won  the  day 
west  of  the  Atlantic  ocean  as  well  as  east. 

68 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

Yet,  my  old  friend,  you  have  studied  Amer- 
ica so  carefully  on  your  various  visits  that 
you  probably  feel  that  something  must  be 
wrong  with  this  equation.  To  say  American 
nationalism  equals  European  makes  the  cal- 
culation decidedly  too  simple.  The  Amer- 
ican nationalism  of  the  1916  type  involves 
a  certain  inner  difficulty  with  which  the  whole 
nation  is  wrestling  more  or  less  subcon- 
sciously. The  difficulty  lies  in  the  very  idea 
of  Americanism.  Each  of  the  European  peo- 
ples wants  to  protect  with  body  and  soul  a 
nationality  which  is  made  sacred  to  them  by 
the  common  historical  tradition.  Now  even 
here  in  Massachusetts,  where  I  am  writing 
to  you,  a  state  which  is  prouder  of  its  fruit- 
ful past  than  any  other  in  the  Union;  even 
here  two-thirds  of  the  inhabitants  were 
either  born  in  foreign  lands  or  born  from 
foreign  parents.  Americans  are  not  held  to- 
gether by  a  common  past  in  the  way  of  the 
European  peoples.  In  a  historic  sense  they 
all  are  immigrants — it  makes  no  difference 
whether  they  arrived  yesterday  or  the  day 
before  yesterday,  and  whether  they  came 
from  English-speaking  lands  or  not.  The 
essential  point  is  that  however  early  their 

69 


TOMORROW 

forefathers  arrived,  they  all  are  still  con- 
scious of  their  particular  European  ancestry. 
Nor  is  it  the  soil  to  which  American  pa- 
triotism is  attached;  it  lacks  that  fervor 
which  the  European  feels  as  a  result  of  two 
thousand  years  and  more  of  history.  The  mi- 
gration in  America  is  still  more  characteristic 
than  the  immigration.  Plenty  of  exceptions 
exist,  but  the  average  American  is  only 
loosely  connected  with  the  soil  on  which  he 
was  born.  Americanism  is  not  that  love  for 
the  past  and  not  that  race  affection  for  the 
natives  of  a  special  soil  in  the  European 
sense:  Americanism  is — and  the  best  men  of 
the  country  feel  it  with  their  whole  heart— 
an  idea,  a  principle,  a  task  which  is  to  be 
fulfilled  by  work  in  common. 

Who  can  doubt  that  this  gives  a  wonder- 
ful meaning  to  American  nationalism,  worthy 
of  the  enthusiasm  of  sturdy  men  who  are 
ready  to  live  and  to  die  for  it !  But  it  lacks 
certain  elements  familiar  in  the  French  or 
Italian,  German,  Russian  or  British  nation- 
alism. It  puts  the  emphasis  on  the  outer 
framework  of  the  national  life.  The  Ameri- 
can patriot  aims  toward  the  outer  protection 
and  prosperity  of  all  who  have  joined  in  the 

70 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

common  task,  and  takes  care  that  the  laws 
and  the  technique  of  the  common  life  give 
to  everybody  equal  opportunity  and  rights. 
But  such  American  nationalism,  confined  to 
a  principle,  can  be  only  little  concerned  with 
the  unfolding  of  an  inherited  national  soul. 
Those  faint  efforts  for  cultural  Americanism 
have  therefore  always  had  more  the  char- 
acter of  caprice  than  of  creation ;  they  stirred 
the  dilettant  more  than  the  genius.  It  was 
quite  consistent  when  nationalists  tried  to 
develop  really  American  music  from  the  old 
melodies  of  the  Indians,  but  it  was  some- 
what embarrassing  for  all  acquainted  with 
the  fate  of  these  only  Americans  who  did  not 
feel  themselves  immigrants.  If  Ameri- 
canism is  essentially  the  realization  of  a 
principle  through  certain  outer  forms  of  gov- 
ernment, law,  organization  and  physical  pro- 
tection, then  surely  it  ought  not  to  be  opposed 
to  the  loving  care  for  the  inner  traits  and 
inherited  cultural  gifts  of  the  various  racial 
elements,  however  diverse  they  may  be. 

But  more  important  is  another  element  of 
the  complex  situation.  The  new  nationalism 
demonstrates  itself  as  such  by  its  readiness 
to  fight  for  the  national  good.  This  good  is 

71 


TOMORROW 

a  system  of  principles;  but  these  principles 
demand  that  America  shall  not  fight,  but 
work  in  peace  toward  justice.  The  princi- 
ples which  have  inspired  America  are  indi- 
vidualistic and  humanistic;  to  make  war  for 
them  or  even  to  emphasize  the  nationalistic 
character  of  those  who  defend  them  means 
to  crush  the  individualism  and  to  deny  the 
humanism.  The  new  Americanism  is  there- 
fore not  like  all  those  new  nationalisms  in 
Europe,  simply  a  new  underscoring  of  the 
old  nationalistic  feeling,  but  it  is  essentially 
the  opposite  of  the  best  in  the  old  Ameri- 
canism. It  is  not  by  chance  that  the  new 
preparedness  leaders  try  to  make  the  most 
out  of  the  wornout  argument  that  armament 
secures  peace.  The  old  Americanism  spoke 
quite  differently,  and  its  echo  is  by  no 
means  unheard  today.  Preparedness  tempts 
to  hasty  declarations  of  war.  "Under  the 
clever  catch-cry  of  national  honor  a  vast 
movement  toward  an  utterly  undemocratic 
imperialism  is  daily  gaining  strength. 
Democracy  and  the  'big  stick'  can  never  live 
long  side  by  side."  This  is  the  language  of 
another  time.  If  the  country  had  wished  to 
test  these  two  state  philosophies  in  a  battle 

72 


NATIONALISM  IN  AMERICA 

of  votes,  it  would  have  nominated  Roosevelt 
and  Bryan  as  the  two  opposing  candidates. 
They  are  the  real  leaders  for  and  against  the 
new  nationalism.  That  a  Bryan  was  impos- 
sible and  that  a  Roosevelt  was  therefore  not 
necessary  as  the  opponent,  is  a  symptom  of 
the  undeniable  victory  of  the  new  nationalism 
in  American  life. 

But  I  have  not  yet  spoken  of  the  strangest 
feature — the  pathetic  outbreak  against  the 
Americans  of  German  descent.  I  know  it  will 
be  a  short  episode  and  the  tragedy  of  unfair- 
ness will  soon  appear  as  a  comedy  of  errors. 
But  you  asked  me  for  social  psychology:  by 
no  means  let  us  overlook  the  pogrom  of  the 
hyphen.  I  am  afraid,  as  the  British  censor 
has  kept  the  American  papers  away  from 
you,  that  you  may  not  even  understand  what 
a  hyphen  has  to  do  with  politics.  Well,  you 
must  put  the  hyphen  between  quotation 
marks,  and  if  you  put  after  it  three  exclama- 
tion marks  and  a  question  mark  you  have  the 
whole  story  of  our  political  punctuation.  I 
shall  explain  it  all  to  you  in  my  next  letter, 
and  remain  today,  with  unhyphenated  feel- 
ings, Sincerely  yours, 

H.  M. 
73 


IV 


NATIONALISM    AND    THE    GERMAN- 
AMERICANS 

MY  DEAR  FEIEND  : 

Only  yesterday  I  wrote  to  you  a  long  let- 
ter to  go  on  this  morning's  steamer  about 
the  new  nationalistic  movement  in  America7 
and  as  the  next  Swedish  ship  will  not  leave 
before  next  week  I  had  not  planned  to  write 
again  until  some  days  had  passed.  But  a 
torrent  of  rain  keeps  me  in  the  house,  dark 
clouds  hang  low  over  the  ocean,  thunder  rolls 
in  the  distance — a  gray  sky  over  a  gray  sea! 
The  day  is  hopeless  for  the  sailing  trip  which 
I  had  planned,  but  it  is  just  the  day  to  stay 
at  my  desk  and  to  write  to  you  the  promised 
story  about  the  German- Americans — a  gray 
sky  over  a  gray  sea. 

Yes,  my  dear  friend,  it  is  a  story  of  pa- 
thetic suffering.  You,  over  in  Germany, 
from  morning  to  night  send  your  thoughts 

74 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

and  your  sympathy  to  those  millions  who 
stand  in  the  trenches.  You  are  not  aware 
that  there  may  be  trenches  and  curtains  of 
fire  and  poisonous  gases  in  peaceful  lands, 
and  that  the  suffering  there  and  the  pain  may 
be  worse  than  in  the  heat  of  the  battle.  The 
recent  ill-tempered  outbreak  against  the 
Americans  of  German  descent  is  one  of  the 
saddest  chapters  of  American  history.  You 
know  I  personally  am  not  touched  by  it; 
hence  I  can  speak  about  it  with  the  objec- 
tivity of  an  outside  observer  and  truly  as  a 
psychologist.  I  am  not  an  American  and 
have  never  intended  to  become  one;  I  am 
politically  a  German  and  nothing  else.  It 
is  true  in  the  last  two  years  I  have  been  at- 
tacked publicly  again  and  again  for  remain- 
ing a  German.  I  cannot  help  it.  I  did  not 
come  here  because  I  liked  Germany  less ;  and 
I  did  not  come  here  at  my  own  desire.  You 
remember  I  was  a  young  professor  in  South 
Germany  when  America  called  me  to  develop 
interest  in  scientific  psychology.  William 
James  wrote  to  me  in  the  name  of  Harvard 
that  they  needed  me.  I  came  from  a  sense 
of  duty,  but  the  readiness  to  help  in  the  scien- 
tific work  could  not  possibly  have  been  a 

75 


TOMORROW 

reason  to  change  my  nationality ;  and  it  was 
a  matter  of  course  that  I  made  the  condition 
that  I  remain  a  German  citizen. 

After  coming  here  my  interest  in  the  land 
grew  steadily.  A  new  life  task  became 
coupled  with  my  scientific  work;  I  tried  to 
interpret  German  ideals  to  America  and 
American  ideals  to  Germany,  and  to  work 
toward  friendly  relations  between  the  two 
countries,  both  of  which  I  had  learned  to  see 
with  the  eyes  of  love.  Whenever  I  was  asked 
to  accept  academic  places  in  Europe,  my 
American  colleagues  who  insisted  on  my 
staying  here  were  successful,  because  I  felt 
that  this  task  of  cultural  intermediation  de- 
manded my  remaining  in  America.  But 
surely  all  this  would  have  been  spoiled  if  I 
had  simply  thrown  overboard  my  native  citi- 
zenship and  had  become  a  full-fledged  Ameri- 
can. My  activity  during  the  war  has  nat- 
urally followed  from  the  past;  after  trying 
for  twenty  years  to  fight  the  prejudices  of 
the  European  continent  against  America,  I 
had  to  combat  the  American  prejudices 
against  Germany  when  the  war  broke  out  and 
American  public  opinion  became  subservient 
to  Germany's  enemies.  But  whatever  I  did 

76 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN- AMERICANS 

was  frankly  done  as  a  German.  The  rebuke 
to  the  Americans  of  German  descent  has 
therefore  not  even  any  reference  to  me  per- 
sonally, and  I  can  see  the  German- American 
struggles  from  the  spectator's  seat. 

I  do  not  know  whether  the  German  readers 
have  had  a  chance  to  study  the  platforms 
which  the  convention  month  brought  to 
American  politics,  and  the  declarations  of 
the  various  leaders.  But  if  the  cutting  of  the 
cables  has  abolished  this  kind  of  news  in  the 
fatherland  the  loss  was  not  great,  as  Repub- 
licans and  Democrats,  and,  as  long  as  they 
existed,  Progressives,  had  all  essentially  the 
same  intentions:  they  preached  the  new  na- 
tionalism in  three  hardly  different  dialects. 
Especially  with  regard  to  the  German- 
Americans,  however  much  the  word  itself 
was  avoided,  the  attitude  of  all  three  parties 
and  their  leaders  was  fundamentally  the 
same.  "We  condemn  as  subversive  of  this 
nation's  unity  and  integrity  and  as  destruc- 
tive of  its  welfare  the  activities  and  designs 
of  every  group  or  organization,  political  or 
otherwise,  that  has  for  its  object  the  ad- 
vancement of  the  interest  of  a  foreign  power, 
whether  such  object  is  promoted  by  intimi- 

77 


TOMORROW 

dating  the  government,  a  political  party  or 
representatives  of  the  people,  or  which  is  cal- 
culated and  tends  to  divide  our  people  into 
antagonistic  groups  and  thus  to  destroy  the 
complete  agreement  and  solidarity  of  the 
people  and  that  unity  of  sentiment  and  na- 
tional purpose  so  essential  to  the  perpetuity 
of  the  nation  and  its  free  institutions." 
President  Wilson  wrote  this  sentence,  the 
Democratic  convention  indorsed  it;  but  with 
more  Anglo-Saxon  words  Roosevelt  might 
have  written  it  and  the  Progressives  might 
have  enthusiastically  accepted  it.  Their 
plank  about  the  "unified  spirit  of  this  cosmo- 
politan people  and  deep  loyalty  and  undi- 
vided allegiance  to  America"  has  just  the 
same  meaning.  And  Mr.  Hughes  in  his  first 
declaration  of  principles  says:  "I  stand  for 
an  Americanism  that  knows  no  ulterior  pur- 
pose, for  a  patriotism  that  is  single  and  com- 
plete. Whether  native  or  naturalized,  of 
whatever  race  or  creed,  we  have  but  one 
country  and  we  do  not  for  an  instant  toler- 
ate any  division  of  allegiance."  If  the  real 
intention  is  filtered  out  of  the  three  creeds, 
it  comes  to  the  simple  formula:  Let  us  haze 
the  German- Americans. 

78 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

To  be  sure,  wise  vote-seekers  do  not  utter 
such  stinging  words  without  adding  at  once : 
"Present  company  excepted!"  They  will  as- 
sure the  well  behaved  Americans  of  German 
descent  that  the  indignation  is  really  turned 
only  against  those  few  whose  hearts  are  di- 
vided. Indeed  everybody  sympathizes  with 
those  shining  examples  of  German-born  men 
who  have  signed  the  "Declaration  of  the 
Five  Hundred"  imploring  America  to  help 
the  Allies  against  the  barbaric  Germans. 
But  while  the  men  of  this  type  are  excepted, 
the  rebuke  is  after  all  hurled  not  against  this 
or  that  culprit  but  practically  against  the 
German-American  masses.  The  German- 
American  Alliance  alone,  against  which  the 
sharpest  arrows  have  been  shot,  has  three 
million  members.  Its  sentiment  is  still  more 
widespread.  Surely  ten  million  people  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  share  that 
German-American  emotion  which  the  Hot- 
spurs of  Anglo-Americanism  are  deriding 
and  denouncing.  But  does  that  mean  that 
the  rebuke  is  deserved?  Does  it  mean  that 
true  Americanism  is  threatened  by  the  de- 
scendants of  those  who  came  from  German 
shores? 

79 


TOMORROW 

The  discussion  about  the  German-Ameri- 
cans has  been  so  passionate  that  even  the 
most  patent  differences  have  been  lost  from 
sight.  You  would  expect  that  at  least  one 
demarcation  line  would  be  kept  clearly  in 
view:  the  political  question  ought  to  be 
sharply  separated  from  the  cultural  one. 
Let  me  disentangle  the  issues  on  both  sides 
of  this  line,  and  let  me  speak  first  of  the 
strictly  political  problem.  Have  the  Amer- 
icans of  German  extraction  misbehaved  in  a 
political  sense  and  has  their  public  activity 
during  these  two  years  of  war  justified  the 
convulsive  upheaval !  You  know  I  have  been 
in  pretty  intimate  contact  with  the  German- 
American  work  and  I  know  all  its  classes  and 
layers,  its  organizations  and  its  leaders,  its 
papers  and  its  literature.  As  I  am  speaking 
here,  friend  to  friend,  I  should  not  hesitate 
to  blame  them  where  blame  is  deserved,  and 
indeed  I  have  said  publicly  that  the  register 
of  mistakes  which  the  German-Americans 
have  made  in  the  last  twenty-five  years  is 
long.  But  with  the  same  frankness  I  can  as- 
sure you  that  since  the  beginning  of  the  war 
they  must  be  entirely  acquitted  of  the  one 
crime  which  alone  is  here  in  the  center ;  they 

80 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN- AMERICANS 

have  never  been  anything  but  loyal  Ameri- 
cans and  every  accusation  to  the  contrary  is 
a  fundamental  misunderstanding  and  a  cruel 
injustice. 

I  should  not  be  sincere  if  I  were  not  to 
acknowledge  from  the  start  that  there  are 
many  German-Americans  who  ought  never 
to  have  become  American  citizens  and  who 
do  feel  today  that  they  have  made  a  mistake 
in  asking  for  naturalization  papers.  They 
joined  a  nation  nearly  a  third  of  which  has 
some  German  blood  in  its  veins,  in  which 
millions  keep  German  social  traditions  alive 
and  which  in  its  long  history  of  bloody  con- 
flicts has  had  not  a  single  war  with  Ger- 
many. It  never  entered  their  minds  that  an 
hour  might  possibly  come  in  which  the  land 
of  their  birth  and  the  land  of  their  lifework 
might  force  on  them  an  inner  struggle  of 
conflicting  feelings  and  duties.  They  be- 
lieved that  they  became  citizens  of  a  nation 
which  had  nothing  but  respect  and  friendship 
for  Germany ;  not  a  few  feel  almost  as  if  the 
new  homestead  had  been  offered  to  them  un- 
der false  pretenses.  Thousands  seem  re- 
solved to  leave  the  country  when  the  war  is 
over — an  exodus  like  that  of  the  Huguenots 

81 


TOMORROW 

from  France.  Yet  as  long  as  the  war  lasts 
this  class  of  naturalized  German-Americans 
keeps  quiet.  They  suffer  without  open  com- 
plaint; they  do  not  partake  in  any  propa- 
ganda. 

Above  all,  it  is  a  cruel  falsehood  when  even 
serious  papers  repeat  the  silly  claim  that 
men  of  this  type  actually  hold  double  citizen- 
ship. You  know  the  new  German  laws  allow 
a  German  in  a  foreign  land,  under  excep- 
tional circumstances,  to  get  permission  of  the 
government  to  keep  his  native  citizenship  in 
spite  of  his  naturalization.  But  this  refers 
only  to  less  developed  countries  where  the 
visitor  intends  to  stay  a  short  time,  but  is 
obliged  to  acquire  the  new  citizenship  for  the 
pursuit  of  his  affairs.  This  permission  is 
never  granted  where  the  naturalization  in- 
volves a  formal  repudiation  of  the  home  gov- 
ernment ;  hence  it  is  never  given  to  Germans 
in  America.  No  German-American  holds 
German  citizenship — and  yet  I  know  even 
this  tale  will  not  die  out.  It  is  much  to  be 
hoped  that  in  the  future  our  German  fellow- 
countrymen  will  show  the  same  thoughtful- 
ness  and  national  pride  in  this  question 
which  the  Englishmen  and  the  Americans 

82 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERM  AN- AMERICANS 

themselves  possess.  Thousands  upon  thou- 
sands of  Americans  live  the  greater  part  of 
their  lives  in  Europe,  but  in  Paris  and  Lon- 
don, in  Berlin  and  Rome,  they  remain  as  a 
matter  of  course  American  citizens.  The 
Englishmen  in  America  generally  stay  sub- 
jects of  the  king.  The  famous  novelist,  Basil 
King,  explained  only  recently  in  the  New 
York  Times  why  he  never  became  naturalized 
in  spite  of  living  in  the  United  States  "off 
and  on"  ever  since  his  childhood.  The  Ger- 
mans become  assimilated  too  easily.  But  as 
their  excuse  it  must  be  added  that  American 
nationalistic  intolerance  almost  forces  them 
to  give  up  their  inherited  birthright.  When 
Henry  James  became  a  British  subject  after 
living  in  England  for  forty  years  the  Ameri- 
cans showed  a  nervous  dislike  of  such  dis- 
loyalty ;  but  when  a  German  resides  in  Amer- 
ica he  is  expected  to  change  color  at  once  and 
he  becomes  a  target  for  suspicion  if  he  shows 
no  such  inclination. 

Yet  those  Germans  who  since  the  outbreak 
of  the  war  regret  having  become  naturalized 
Americans  certainly  are  the  exception.  An 
overwhelming  majority  of  the  Americans  of 
German  descent,  born  over  there  or  here,  are 

83 


TOMORROW 

proud  of  their  citizenship.  They  love  Amer- 
ica and  American  life  and  feel  sure  that  they 
are  among  the  most  worthy  elements  of  the 
community.  And  yet  they  have  been  hazed 
and  maltreated,  have  lost  their  friends,  have 
not  seldom  been  economically  ruined,  have 
been  dismissed  from  their  positions,  have 
been  deprived  of  their  professional  clients, 
have  been  shaken  off  from  the  political  par- 
ties, have  been  degraded  as  second-class  citi- 
zens, have  been  abused  as  traitors  to  the 
land.  What  has  happened?  What  was  their 
crime  f  Have  they  really  put  the  interests  of 
Germany  above  those  of  the  country  to  which 
they  have  sworn  allegiance!  The  jury  of 
history  will  acquit  them  and  will  declare 
unanimously  that  they  were  not  guilty  of  the 
wrong  of  which  the  man  on  the  street  and  the 
man  on  the  platform  and,  alas,  the  man  in  the 
presidential  chair  has  accused  them.  It  will 
be  a  somber  chapter  in  the  book  of  Ameri- 
can public  life,  and  yet  it  offers  no  difficul- 
ties to  psychological  explanation.  No,  the 
events  did  not  even  bring  any  psychological 
surprises  to  those  who  understood  the  power 
of  the  press,  the  setting  of  the  war  and  the 
temper  of  the  Anglo-Saxons. 

84 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERM  AN- AMERICANS 

The  millions  of  German-Americans  who 
form  the  membership  of  the  German  societies 
all  over  the  country  have  at  no  moment 
stopped  being  faithful  American  citizens. 
But  they  were  unanimous  in  one  demand  of 
their  heart :  America  must  remain  neutral  in 
the  European  war,  and  must  not  support  the 
English  side  against  the  Germans.  Such  na- 
tional impartiality  was  thinkable.  It  would 
not  have  excluded  personal  sympathies  for 
the  one  or  the  other  side;  but  public  opinion 
would  have  watched  the  terrific  fight  with  sin- 
cere respect  for  both  groups  of  nations,  both 
of  which  sacrifice  their  lifeblood  for  their  his- 
toric destiny.  It  happened  otherwise.  By  a 
masterstroke  of  British  politics  America  was 
deprived  of  direct  news  from  Germany ;  every 
bit  of  cable  information  and  commentary 
from  Europe  was  shaped  and  molded  by  the 
British  mind.  It  was  so  easy  in  that  first 
period  of  excitement  to  force  on  the  world  of 
printers '  ink  news  and  views  of  the  war  which 
depicted  Germany  as  a  moral  culprit  and  the 
Allies  as  flag-bearers  of  humanity.  .  Those 
first  weeks  of  heightened  suggestibility  were 
naturally  decisive.  As  soon  as  the  first 
fundamental  anti- German  turn  of  public 

85 


TOMORROW 

opinion  was  secured  the  British  influence 
could  easily  grow  from  its  own  momentum. 
Indeed  no  individual  editorial  writer  is  to  be 
blamed — no  one  in  his  place  could  have  the 
strength  to  resist  this  country-wide  power- 
no  editorial  reader  is  to  be  blamed  for  suc- 
cumbing to  his  paper,  and  no  politician  is  to 
be  blamed  for  serving  those  newspaper  read- 
ers. Social  imitation  and  financial  interest 
did  the  rest  to  forge  the  British  ring  around 
the  country.  The  Germans  in  the  land,  con- 
nected by  millions  of  family  ties  with  the 
fatherland  and  protected  against  distortions 
for  political  effect  by  thorough  acquaintance 
with  the  German  character,  protested  indig- 
nantly against  that  ruthless  partiality.  The 
tragic  conflict  was  unavoidable :  the  German- 
Americans  rejected  the  anti-German  one- 
sidedness  and  as  this  onesidedness  had  be- 
come the  creed  and  the  passion  of  America, 
the  German-Americans  suddenly  appeared 
anti-American.  This  is  the  psychological 
core.  They  had  become  "kaiserists";  they 
served  Germany  instead  of  their  own  country 
— a  crushing  accusation ;  and  yet  no  act  and 
no  word  can  be  offered  as  evidence. 
I  saw  the  largest  demonstration  which  the 
86 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

German-Americans  arranged.  It  was  in 
Madison  Square  Garden  when  Bryan  spoke. 
He  had  just  resigned  from  the  Cabinet  and 
made  his  first  speech  before  twenty  thousand 
German-Americans.  He  denounced  bitterly 
those  who  insisted  on  crossing  the  ocean  on 
belligerent  munition-carrying  steamers;  he 
shouted  that  it  is  their  recklessness  which 
endangers  the  peace  between  America  and 
Germany.  The  applause  was  frantic.  I 
had  hardly  believed  that  German-Americans 
could  become  so  jubilant  and  so  passionate. 
It  was  a  storm  of  overwhelming  enthusiasm. 
Twenty  thousand  flags  were  wildly  waved; 
and  yet  every  flag  bore  the  stars  and  stripes 
— not  a  single  man  or  woman  showed  a  Ger- 
man flag.  It  was  a  demonstration  of  true 
American  citizens ;  they  displayed  their  flags 
not  in  disloyalty  to  America,  but  as  an  appeal 
for  a  saner,  safer  and  fairer  America. 

Not  a  single  German-American  proposed 
at  any  time  that  America  join  the  Central 
Powers.  There  would  have  been  no  lack  of 
pretexts  for  such  an  appeal ;  the  common  fight 
for  the  freedom  of  the  sea  would  have  been 
more  in  the  spirit  of  American  history  than 
many  a  catchword  with  which  the  pro- Allies 

87 


TOMORROW 

filled  the  air.  But  the  German-Americans 
did  not  try  to  stir  up  American  fighting  spirit 
against  England ;  they  resented  only  that  the 
others  aimed  to  force  America  into  the  actual 
fight  against  Germany.  "The  Declaration 
of  the  Five  Hundred, ' '  who,  in  burning  words 
of  hatred,  tried  to  hunt  the  soul  of  the  Ameri- 
can nation  into  a  war  for  the  interests  of 
England,  really  did  serve  foreign  countries 
more  than  the  United  States — and  yet  the 
German- Americans,  who  only  served  the 
peace  of  the  land,  were  denounced  as  traitors. 
Thousands  upon  thousands  of  Americans  en- 
listed in  the  Canadian  brigade,  swearing:  "I 
will  be  faithful  and  bear  true  allegiance  to 
his  Majesty  King  George  V";  already  there 
are  sixteen  thousand  American  citizens  ac- 
tually fighting  at  the  front  "in  duty  bound 
honestly  and  faithfully  to  defend  his  Maj- 
esty"— and  yet  the  German- Americans  are 
the  faithless  sinners  with  a  "double  alle- 
giance. ' ' 

It  is  true  the  German-Americans  worked 
against  the  export  of  munitions,  and  it  can- 
not be  denied  that  if  they  had  succeeded  in 
their  aim  it  would  have  helped  the  Germans 
somewhat  and  might  have  curtailed  the  divi- 
88 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

dends  of  some  Americans.  But  surely  the 
pacificists  of  many  shades  have  taken  the 
same  ground;  they  were  not  anti- American 
when  they  appealed  to  America's  sense  of 
humanity.  They  were  quite  aware  that  the 
export  was  legally  not  forbidden  and  that 
those  who  sought  the  tremendous  profits  for 
American  factories  or  who  wanted  to  help 
the  Allies  by  the  sale  of  munitions  were  tech- 
nically on  the  safe  side.  But  they  knew  that 
every  country  in  Europe  which  really  tried 
to  be  neutral  had  at  once  declared  an  em- 
bargo. They  wanted  their  country  to  do  what 
Spain  and  Holland,  Switzerland  and  Sweden 
had  done.  Moreover  they  felt  that  the  inter- 
national right  to  sell  arms  is  meant  to  refer 
to  the  regular  agencies  of  supply,  but  that  it 
is  not  meant  to  welcome  the  remolding  of  the 
whole  industrial  life  of  a  nation  until  war  is 
fed  from  its  every  workshop.  They  feared 
that  such  an  artificial  change  of  the  industrial 
system  would  later  drive  the  country  into 
superfluous  wars,  as  the  influence  of  the  cap- 
ital engaged  would  work  for  the  permanence 
of  the  ammunition  demand.  But  most  of  all 
they  saw  with  alarm  that  the  European  mas- 
sacre came  no  nearer  to  an  end  because  Anaer- 

89 


TOMORROW 

ica  supplied  the  means  for  continuous  slaugh- 
ter. They  felt  the  fatal  contrast  between 
America's  traditional  peace  professions  and 
its  sudden  war  trade.  I  know  many  German- 
Americans  who  would  have  protested  no  less 
against  this  bloodstained  sale  if  the  shells 
could  have  been  shipped  to  both  parties. 
Ought  they  to  have  protested  less  because 
only  their  own  brothers  and  cousins  were  to 
be  maimed  and  killed  by  it? 

The  accusation  that  the  German- Americans 
serve  Germany  more  than  America  was  the 
more  unjust  as  it  became  daily  more  evident 
that  their  pro-German  interpretation  of  the 
war  was  more  important  for  their  own  po- 
sition in  the  country  than  for  Germany's 
success  in  Europe.  You  know  the  German- 
Americans  were  the  ridiculed  *  *  Dutchies ' '  in 
the  middle  of  the  last  century.  Then  came 
the  Bismarck  time  and  the  German  Empire 
and  Germany's  new  strength  in  the  world 
gave  an  entirely  new  position  to  the  Ameri- 
can citizens  of  German  descent.  The  immi- 
gration surged  on;  millions  arrived.  The 
German-American  population  became  pros- 
perous, respected  and  welcome ;  the  low  place 
of  their  past  was  filled  by  new  large  influxes 

90 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

from  southern  and  eastern  Europe.  But  with 
the  European  war  the  moral  credit  of  the 
German  Empire  was  dwindling ;  the  malicious 
misinterpretation,  spread  with  the  technique 
of  the  modern  press,  lowered  Germany  and 
Austria  in  the  estimation  of  the  masses  and 
this  undermined  the  foundation  on  which  the 
German-Americans  had  stood  for  a  genera- 
tion. If  the  moral  hatred  against  Germany 
remained  unbridled,  the  honor  of  the  Ger- 
man-Americans themselves  would  be  sullied 
and  tarnished. 

To  prove  to  the  world  that  the  German 
race  is  not  a  barbaric  stock  meant  to  fight  for 
the  rank  and  good  name  of  the  Americans  of 
German  descent.  Can  patriotism  forbid  them 
to  prove  that  they  are  worthy  citizens  of  the 
nation?  Or  would  they  have  shown  them- 
selves worthier  Americans  if  in  coward  fear 
they  had  succumbed  to  the  slander  and  had 
tried  to  escape  the  consequences  by  besmirch- 
ing the  land  of  their  own  birth  or  of  their 
fathers  ?  Not  a  trace  of  unpatriotic  behavior 
can  be  found  in  that  German- American  pro- 
test movement,  as  long  as  it  is  not  decreed 
that  American  nationalism  is  the  same  as 
British  interest.  No  doubt,  this  Tory  view 

91 


TOMORROW 

has  benumbed  and  blunted  many  honest 
minds;  and  they  believed  sincerely  that  to 
be  anti-British  in  this  war  meant  to  be  anti- 
American.  The  charge  of  double  allegiance 
against  the  German-Americans  was  there- 
fore most  passionate  wherever  the  British 
traditions  are  most  forceful.  Do  you  remem- 
ber from  your  schooldays  the  Hartford  Con- 
vention of  1812?  The  New  England  States 
at  that  time  sent  their  delegates  to  Hartford 
to  work  against  the  country's  anti-British 
policy.  It  is  claimed  that  not  a  few  would 
have  preferred  to  secede  from  the  Union 
rather  than  to  quarrel  with  England.  A  cen- 
tury later  New  England  has  again  become  the 
chief  camping  ground  of  the  pro-Britishers, 
and  Tremont  Temple  in  Boston  has  been  the 
national  center  of  hatred  for  England's  en- 
emies. Nowhere  have  the  Americans  of 
German  descent  been  harassed  as  about  the 
Charles  River.  It  was  only  a  poor  comfort 
to  them  that  the  same  circles  treated  the 
abolitionists  in  exactly  the  same  way. 

A  reaction  to  pro-British  agitation  and 
nothing  else  was  that  literature  for  the  day 
which  was  mostly  labeled  German  propa- 
ganda. Much  of  it  was  superficial  and  much 

92 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

was  overheated,  not  a  little  was  tasteless; 
but  it  was  thoroughly  honest  and  written 
throughout  with  more  knowledge  of  facts 
than  was  shown  in  the  attacks  against  which 
it  was  directed.  On  the  whole  it  was  de- 
cidedly effective ;  hundreds  of  thousands  cor- 
rected their  unneutral  views,  and  it  was 
merely  a  well-known  trick  when  the  anti- 
Germans  steadily  assured  the  pro-German 
writers  that  they  did  damage  to  their  own 
cause.  It  is  a  fact  that  much  of  the  pro- 
German  writing  gained  more  ground  than 
the  pro-British  literature;  yet  America  is 
not  a  land  in  which  books  and  pamphlets  can 
win  over  the  newspapers  and  magazines. 
But  whatever  the  effect  may  have  been,  it  is 
clear  that  such  efforts  did  not  violate  the 
duties  of  citizenship.  Every  German-Amer- 
ican felt  convinced  that  a  further  abuse  of 
the  German  race  would  lead  to  internal  con- 
flicts and  that  a  war  with  Germany  would  be 
a  horrible  misfortune  for  America's  inner 
peace  and  for  its  outer  position.  Was  it  not 
then  his  highest  patriotic  duty  to  utter  his 
warning  with  the  greatest  possible  vigor? 
Nobody  considered  it  unpatriotic  when  men 
proclaimed,  even  passionately,  their  views 

93 


TOMORROW 

against  war  with  Mexico ;  those  who  warned 
against  war  with  Germany  surely  served  as 
well  as  they  knew  how  the  highest  interests 
of  honor  and  harmony  in  the  American  na- 
tion. They  would  have  sinned  against  Amer- 
ican nationalism  if  they  had  kept  silent  from 
fear  of  the  pro- Ally  resentment. 

The  indictment  which  the  nationalists  draw 
up  against  the  pro-German  propagandists 
contains,  however,  one  more  charge.  It  is 
claimed  that  Germany  not  only  profits  from 
the  activity  of  these  Americans,  but  controls 
and  directs  them.  Of  course,  in  excited  times 
there  is  no  limit  to  the  absurdities  which  are 
honestly  believed.  Whenever  some  promi- 
nent Anglo-American  made  a  venomous 
speech  against  the  Germans,  I  received  from 
well-meaning  pro-German  cranks  in  the  coun- 
try letters  of  assurance  that  the  speaker  was 
suffering  from  senile  atrophy  if  he  was  above 
seventy,  and  that  he  was  bought  with  English 
money  if  he  was  below  seventy  years  of  age. 
In  a  similar  way  anti-German  cranks  are 
certain  that  Berlin  pays  for  the  propaganda 
of  the  German- Americans.  But  serious  peo- 
ple ought  not  to  take  such  gossip  seriously. 
Those  who  are  really  familiar  with  the  his- 

94 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERM  AN- AMERICANS 

tory  of  the  efforts  of  Germany  to  come  into 
contact  with  the  public  opinion  of  America 
know  that  they  took  systematic  form  about 
1898.  The  German  ambassadors  visited  the 
American  universities,  the  scholars  from 
Germany  attended  American  congresses,  the 
Emperor's  brother  came  to  Washington^  pro- 
fessorial exchanges  were  established,  the 
Amerika-Institut  in  Berlin  was  organized, 
the  chambers  of  commerce  on  both  sides  of 
the  water  did  their  share ;  but  in  every  move 
Berlin  took  care  not  to  involve  the  German- 
Americans,  so  as  not  to  suggest  that  a  politi- 
cal double  allegiance  was  possible  for  them. 
The  war  has  not  changed  this  policy  of 
discretion.  I  do  not  want  to  tire  you  with  de- 
tails of  German-American  politics,  but  it 
would  be  easy  to  show  that  not  infrequently 
the  interests  of  Germany  have  not  even  co- 
incided with  the  interests  of  the  German- 
Americans  and  that  the  latter  with  natural 
instinct  sought  their  own  advantage  without 
waiting  for  Germany  to  suggest  another  di- 
rection. For  instance,  when  the  national  con- 
ventions were  near,  German- American  ora- 
tory almost  automatically  turned  against 
Wilson  and  Roosevelt,  both  of  whom  in  bit- 

95 


TOMORROW 

ter  words  had  denounced  the  so-called  hy- 
phenated Americans.  Their  pride,  yes, 
their  self-respect,  was  hurt  by  the  unfair 
aspersions  on  their  loyalty  as  American  citi- 
zens. Yet  I  cannot  imagine  that  a  Ger- 
man chancellor  would  have  endorsed  these 
harsh  attacks  on  the  President.  He  would 
have  been  less  concerned  with  the  rehabili- 
tation of  the  German-Americans  than  with 
the  difficulties  of  the  German  Empire,  and 
he  would  therefore  first  of  all  have  counted 
with  the  fact  that  the  President  would  under 
any  circumstances  still  be  in  office  for  nearly 
a  year.  Hence  he  would  probably  have  wished 
to  avoid  anything  which  would  irritate  the 
responsible  leader  of  American  politics  dur- 
ing the  decisive  year  of  the  war.  Only 
through  carelessness  have  German  interests 
and  German-American  interests  always  been 
thrown  together.  A  little  more  analysis 
would  often  have  shown  that  the  accusation 
of  German-American  dependence  upon  Ber- 
lin was  not  only  unjust  but  illogical  and 
absurd. 

Finally  the  confusion  is  aggravated  when 
German- American  policies  are  burdened  with 
the  debit  account  of  those  few  German  citi- 

96 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN- AMERICANS 

zens  who  violated  the  laws  of  the  country. 
Unable  to  hurry  home  for  the  defense  of 
their  fatherland,  they  were  carried  away  by 
their  fanatic  patriotism  until  they  neglected 
their  nearest  duties.  It  is  difficult  to  say  how 
many  of  these  charges  are  backed  by  facts. 
The  great  trial  against  Tauscher,  about  whom 
we  had  heard  the  worst  in  the  papers,  ended 
with  a  perfect  acquittal.  But  whatever  may 
really  have  been  attempted  by  a  few  German 
reservists,  their  errors  should  not  be  charged 
against  the  German-American  masses.  The 
political  record  of  the  American  citizens  of 
German  extraction  is  perfectly  clean;  in 
every  phase  of  this  turbulent  wartime  they 
have  sincerely  served  that  which  appeared  to 
them  the  highest  interest  of  their  country. 
The  nationalistic  demand  that  America  be 
first  in  the  political  thought  of  every  Amer- 
ican citizen  has  been  thoroughly  realized  in 
every  act  and  word  of  theirs.  When  they 
acted  together,  they  did  not  separate  them- 
selves as  a  party  or  as  a  group  which  tries  to 
influence  American  political  life  in  favor  of 
Germany;  but,  just  like  any  other  group  of 
citizens  with  common  interests,  convictions 
and  ideals,  they  entered  into  the  midst  of 

97 


TOMORROW 

the  arena  for  a  loyal  patriotic  fight  in  favor 
of  equal  rights  for  themselves,  and,  more 
than  that,  in  favor  of  an  American  foreign 
policy  of  true  independence. 

Does  this  clear  the  German-American  in 
the  eyes  of  the  American  nationalist?  Surely 
not.  The  political  actions  of  the  "hyphen- 
ate" may  not  be  treacherous;  but  his 
thoughts  and  feelings,  his  language  and  cus- 
toms, his  attitude  toward  private  and  social 
problems,  his  tastes  and  interests,  his  whole 
cultural  atmosphere,  are  claimed  to  be  so  dif- 
ferent that  no  merely  political  denial  can 
whitewash  him.  He  stands  convicted  of  anti- 
national  separatism,  which  may  not  start 
with  a  political  program,  but  must  end 
with  political  evil.  What  is  the  true  situa- 
tion in  this  cultural,  social  and  spiritual 
sphere?  The  arguments  of  the  assailants  are 
well  known.  You  citizens  of  German  de- 
scent, they  proclaim,  are  welcome  among  us 
as  long  as  you  show  your  willingness  to  ac- 
cept our  characteristic  ideals  and  principles 
and  to  submit  your  German  ideals  and  insti- 
tutions to  those  of  your  new  home.  You  or 
your  fathers  left  the  old  home  because  you 
liked  the  German  ideals  and  institutions  less 

98 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN- AMERICANS 

than  ours ;  as  you  are  now  profiting  from  the 
better  things  for  which  you  longed,  you  must 
show  your  gratitude  by  uprooting  every  re- 
minder of  your  German  beliefs.  Otherwise 
you  remain  an  alien  in  our  borders  in  spite 
of  your  citizenship,  and  if  all  were  acting  in 
this  way  the  nation  would  be  torn  in  pieces. 
If  at  heart  you  even  feel  more  sympathy 
with  your  fellow  German-Americans  than 
with  the  other  citizens,  you  are  a  traitor  to 
America.  This  country  would  soon  be  "a 
tangle  of  squabbling  nationalities,  an  intri- 
cate knot  of  German- Americans,  Irish- Amer- 
icans, Anglo-Americans,  French-Americans, 
Scandinavian-Americans  and  Italian-Ameri- 
cans, each  preserving  its  separate  national- 
ity." It  would  be  the  most  certain  way  of 
preventing  America  from  continuing  as  a  na- 
tion at  all.  ''The  men  who  do  not  become 
Americans  and  nothing  else  are  hyphenated 
Americans;  and  there  ought  to  be  no  room 
for  them  in  this  country." 

The  familiar  tune  of  this  Eoosevelt  march 
was  whistled  and  harped  and  drummed  and 
trumpeted  through  the  land.  The  German- 
Americans,  however,  do  not  intend  to  parade 
in  accord  with  its  rhythm ;  and  yet  their  tune 
99 


TOMORROW 

is  not  at  all  the  " Watch  on  the  Rhine,"  but 
"Columbia."  They  feel  themselves  just  as 
good  patriots  as  their  detractors.  This  is 
their  creed.  Certainly,  they  say,  every  Ger- 
man-American must  uphold  the  American 
idea.  But  Americanism  is  not  the  life  philos- 
ophy of  the  New  Englanders  brought  over 
from  the  British  Islands  and  not  the  18th 
century  state  philosophy  brought  over  from 
France.  Americanism  centers  in  the  demo- 
cratic faith  that  this  great  nation,  unham- 
pered by  the  ideas  of  the  past,  will  work  out 
and  develop  its  ideas  and  principles  best 
through  the  free  cooperation  of  all  its  citi- 
zens. This  has  been  its  vitalizing  energy 
throughout  its  history,  and  this  is  the  only 
security  for  its  future  as  a  true  nation.  Men 
and  women  of  all  European  states  and  races 
have  entered  into  the  republic  for  common 
work.  If  one  racial  element  were  to  claim 
that  its  tradition  ought  to  be  forced  on  the 
other  parts  of  the  population  for  historic 
reasons,  true  Americanism  would  be  be- 
trayed. The  saving  thought  of  this  land, 
which  cannot  be  insisted  on  too  often  or 
too  strongly,  is  that  not  England  but  all  Eu- 
rope is  America's  mother  country. 
100 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

But  this  gives  to  every  racial  part  of  the 
nation  not  only  the  right  to  contribute  its  own 
emotions  and  ideas  and  beliefs  to  the  common 
life,  but  it  puts  on  each  a  solemn  duty  and 
responsibility.  Every  element,  from  what- 
ever part  of  Europe  it  arrived,  is  morally 
obliged  to  enrich  the  nation  with  the  very 
best  and  purest  and  most  characteristic  traits 
which  it  brought  over  the  ocean.  It  would 
be  a  sin  against  the  deepest  spirit  of  Ameri- 
canism if  anyone  immigrated  with  the  inten- 
tion to  receive  only,  that  is  to  imitate  what 
he  finds  instead  of  giving  with  his  full  heart 
what  he  inherited  and  learned  in  his  native 
land.  But  to  contribute  ideas  and  feelings  to 
the  community  means  to  make  them  effec- 
tive by  keeping  them  alive.  Truly  no  greater 
duty  falls  to  the  Americans  of  German  or 
Italian  or  English  or  Swedish  descent  than 
to  supply  the  noblest  and  most  ideal  elements 
of  the  culture  of  Germany  or  Italy  or  Eng- 
land or  Sweden  to  the  nation  which  is  to  be 
spiritually  enlarged  day  by  day  through  this 
abundance  of  racial  contributions.  The  com- 
mon land,  the  common  law,  the  common  po- 
litical organization  and  the  common  language 
give  to  the  nation  its  outer  framework  and 
101 


TOMORROW 

outer  unity ;  the  wonderful  diversity  of  racial 
traits  and  talents  and  endeavors,  all  serving 
in  balanced  rivalry  the  common  good,  gives 
to  it  the  unique  American  content.  We  men 
of  German  descent  will  not  be  found  neglect- 
ful of  this  solemn  historic  obligation ;  we  shall 
keep  the  best  features  of  German  culture  liv- 
ing in  our  souls,  in  our  homes,  in  our  chil- 
dren, in  our  fellow  German- Americans,  so  as 
to  do  our  share  in  the  service  to  real  Ameri- 
can nationalism. 

Those  who  profess  such  a  creed  and  act 
under  such  an  impulse  surely  correct  one  di- 
rect misstatement  of  their  opponents.  It  is 
simply  a  fiction  when  it  is  claimed  that  the 
millions  of  German  immigrants  left  their 
homes  because  they  disliked  German  ideals 
and  institutions.  The  little  groups  which 
came  when  Carl  Schurz  came  did  leave 
Germany  in  scorn.  But  with  the  founding 
of  the  German  Empire  this  political  dissatis- 
faction of  the  Germans  ceased;  their  visions 
had  come  true.  Then  nobody  had  to  leave 
in  order  to  seek  freedom;  and  yet  the  real 
flood  of  German  immigrants  came  after  1871. 
Certainly  some  cowards  came  to  escape  ob- 
ligatory military  service;  they  probably  will 
102 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

now  soon  have  to  secure  their  safety  again 
by  emigrating,  perhaps  to  China.  But  the 
real  bulk  of  the  German  immigration  was 
made  up  of  those  who  came  for  economic  rea- 
sons. Political  dissatisfaction  was  felt  in 
Germany  only  by  the  socialists;  and  they 
would  surely  not  have  sought  America  as  a 
socialistic  paradise,  since  Germany's  indus- 
trial organization  is  so  much  nearer  to  the 
socialists'  ideal  than  America's  unbridled 
reign  of  capitalistic  influence.  The  most  cer- 
tain proof,  however,  of  the  unpolitical  char- 
acter of  the  German  exodus  lies  in  the  fact 
that  it  ceased  when  Germany  had  passed 
through  the  great  change  from  an  agrarian 
to  an  industrial  state.  This  change,  which 
offered  ample  support  to  the  rapidly  growing 
population,  was  completed  in  the  nineties, 
and  since  that  time  German  emigration  to 
America  has  dwindled  and  the  immigration 
to  Germany  has  become  larger  than  its  emi- 
gration. 

Hence  in  general  it  can  be  laid  down  as  a 
historic  fact  that  the  Germans  did  not  come 
to  this  country  from  any  dissatisfaction  with 
the  culture  and  institutions  of  their  home 
land.  They  sought  better  wages  or  larger 
103 


TOMORROW 

farms,  but  they  did  not  cross  the  ocean  to 
find  better  state  forms  or  larger  ideals.  Of 
course  they  knew  what  their  pledge  of  alle- 
giance demanded,  and  they  gladly  adjusted 
themselves  to  the  particular  forms  of  the 
American  government,  the  more  as  they  well 
understood  that  an  earnest  belief  in  the  need 
of  republican  government  for  America  is  not 
in  the  least  a  contradiction  to  an  enthusiastic 
belief  in  imperial  government  for  the  Ger- 
man nation.  Nor  had  they  any  reason  to 
tear  their  inherited  ideals  from  their  soul 
out  of  mere  gratitude;  they  knew  that  how- 
ever much  they  received  they  brought  their 
brain  and  brawn,  their  education  and  their 
skill,  and  all  was  a  loss  to  the  country  which 
had  given  it  to  them  and  a  gain  to  the  land 
which  had  received  it.  Most  of  them — who 
will  deny  it? — did  not  contemplate  much,  but 
simply  did  their  daily  work.  Yet  in  the  sub- 
conscious mind  of  everyone  lingered  the  con- 
viction that  he  fulfilled  his  oath  of  allegiance 
best  if  he  did  not  throw  away  his  native 
treasures  and  did  not  waste  the  ideals  of  his 
first  home,  but  made  them  helpful  and  in- 
fluential in  the  new  home  which  he  had 
learned  to  love  and  to  admire. 
104 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

These  instincts  of  the  unthinking  coincide 
with  the  impartial  views  of  the  scientific  so- 
ciologist. He  cannot  help  seeing  that  the  de- 
mand for  a  uniformity  of  thought  and  emo- 
tions in  this  recent  mixture  of  races  would 
involve  a  psychological  impossibility.  It 
would  force  on  the  individual  an  artificial  in- 
hibition of  natural  tendencies,  and  where  such 
suppression  could  be  secured  it  would  neces- 
sarily result  in  breaking  the  real  spring  of 
the  personality.  The  outcome  would  be  a 
shallow  monotony  in  which  the  outer  acts  are 
uniform  because  no  one  has  a  right  to  unfold 
his  own  soul.  All  seeds  of  progress  would 
then  be  dried  up.  It  has  been  America's 
great  good  luck  that  no  such  misconstruction 
of  nationalism  interfered  with  the  healthy 
development  of  the  nation  in  its  decisive  cen- 
tury. Its  wonderful  progress  was  possible 
just  because  the  American  national  mind 
could  freely  grow  into  a  synthesis  of  many 
European  characteristics. 

But  this  process  is  still  at  its  beginning. 
He  is  an  ill  adviser  of  his  nation  who  protests 
against  this  trend.  The  Puritans  did  not  like 
and  disapproved  of  music;  they  brought  no 
talent  for  it  to  these  shores.  Would  it  have 
105 


TOMORROW 

been  better  for  America  if  those  who  came 
after  them  had  insisted  that  the  American 
soul  remain  unmusical  and  that  the  love  for 
music  and  the  talent  which  the  Germans, 
Austrians,  French  and  Italians  brought  to 
the  land  be  suppressed  in  order  not  to  inter- 
fere with  the  national  character?  But  it  is 
not  a  question  of  the  life  of  music;  it  is  a 
question  of  the  whole  music  of  life.  Who  will 
disentangle  today  what  in  the  American  mind 
has  come  from  this  or  from  that  racial 
source?  Surely  it  was  not  England  which 
filled  the  American  temperament  with  its  op- 
timism, with  its  joy  in  color,  with  its  love 
for  nature,  with  its  exhilarating  freshness 
or  with  its  exuberant  enthusiasm,  and  what 
not.  The  message  of  every  European  people 
has  reached  the  heart  of  the  American  na- 
tion and  has  left  its  trace  in  the  mental 
layer  below  consciousness.  The  realism  and 
the  idealism,  the  humanism  and  the  individ- 
ualism, the  spirit  of  joy  and  the  spirit  of 
service,  the  impulse  to  action  and  the  love 
of  thought,  the  trading  mood  and  the  fight- 
ing mood,  were  all  equally  needed  to  make 
the  nation  that  unique  power  for  good  in  the 
world. 

106 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

But  every  phase  of  history  brings  new  ele- 
ments into  the  foreground;  features  of  the 
national  spirit  and  character  which  were  sec- 
ondary at  one  period  are  paramount  in  an- 
other, until  they  are  pushed  backward  again 
by  other  predominant  traits.  This  makes  it 
necessary  that  the  contribution  of  one  racial 
factor  be  more  important  at  one  time,  those 
of  another  factor  at  another  time.  The  trend 
of  today  and  tomorrow,  that  is  of  the  war 
time  and  still  more  of  the  time  when  at  last 
peace  comes,  is,  as  we  all  must  agree,  the 
trend  toward  nationalism.  Nationalism 
means  the  overcoming  of  mere  individual- 
ism and  of  colorless  humanism;  nationalism 
means  the  emphasis  on  the  characteristic 
features  of  the  whole  nation  as  such  and  the 
service  of  the  individual  to  this  unique  na- 
tional work.  But  the  belief  in  this  devotion 
of  the  individual  to  the  state,  the  subordina- 
tion of  the  person  to  the  overpersonal  na- 
tional genius,  is  exactly  the  central  offering 
of  the  German- Americans.  That  is  the  ideal- 
istic creed  which  they  learned  in  their  nur- 
sery at  the  border  of  the  Rhine,  of  the  Elbe 
or  of  the  Vistula,  and  they  cannot  have  for- 
gotten it  when  they  crossed  the  ocean.  If 
107 


TOMORROW 

nationalism  is  really  the  stamp  of  the  new 
America,  the  German- American  contribution 
will  be  for  the  present  the  most  significant 
and  the  most  pregnant  one.  Not  in  the  rear 
guard  of  the  national  army,  but  in  the  front 
rank  is  then  their  place,  and  their  unpardon- 
able sin  against  Americanism  would  be  if 
they  were  hiding  their  German  soul  instead 
of  making  it  felt  throughout  the  land. 

Yes,  the  years  to  come  will  be  stirred  by 
nationalism  the  world  over,  in  America  ex- 
actly as  much  as  in  every  part  of  Europe; 
but  the  American  nationalism  can  gain  full 
strength  only  if  the  thoughts  and  emotions 
which  the  German-Americans  brought  over 
the  sea  become  the  foremost  energy  in  Amer- 
ica's composite  structure.  The  old  English 
individualism  must  for  the  moment  retreat 
in  the  American  mind  if  nationalism  with  all 
its  political,  economic  and  cultural  prepared- 
ness is  to  prevail.  It  must  yield  for  today 
and  tomorrow  to  the  German  idealism.  Far 
from  being  the  traitors,  the  men  who  are  loyal 
to  their  best  German  traditions  are  really  the 
most  faithful  servants  of  nationalistic  Amer- 
ica. But  the  prognosis  that  nationalism  will 
take  the  idealistic  trend  cannot  be  confined  to 
108 


NATIONALISM  AND  GERMAN-AMERICANS 

America.  It  will  be  true  of  the  whole  world, 
as  it  is  to  shape  itself  after  the  war.  It  is 
only  another  aspect  of  the  same  fundamental 
fact  if  we  acknowledge  that  next  to  the  ener- 
getic nationalism  which  will  arise  every- 
where, a  new  idealism  will  come. 

My  heart  is  so  filled  with  the  remembrance 
of  all  the  bitter  wrong  my  German- American 
friends  have  had  to  go  through  during  these 
dark  days  of  war  that  I  remained  unaware  of 
the  changes  around  me  while  I  was  writing 
this  long  letter.  I  see  that  the  gray  sky  over 
the  gray  sea  has  yielded  to  the  sun,  the  clouds 
have  disappeared  and  blue  sky  is  joyfully  re- 
flected in  the  ocean;  I  may  still  start  on  my 
sail.  I  know  the  somber  clouds  of  life  will 
also  be  vanquished  by  a  radiant  sun.  May  it 
come  soon ;  we  long  for  it.  In  hearty  friend- 
ship, 

Yours, 

H.  M. 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND: 

You  remember  Bismarck  once  said,  when 
a  caller  left  him,  that  the  man  had  spoken  to 
him  as  if  he  were  a  mass-meeting.  I  am 
afraid  that  my  letters  to  you  may  stir  you  to 
a  similar  comment.  Yet  you  know  that  you 
yourself  proposed  the  topics  for  my  episto- 
lary sermons.  If  you  had  asked  me,  as  in 
days  of  old,  about  my  reading  and  writing, 
about  my  friends,  about  my  travel,  I  should 
have  chattered  in  an  easy-going  way  and 
should  have  sent  you  my  latest  kodak  pic- 
tures. But,  as  you  asked  about  the  great 
changes  to  come,  the  world-wide  powers 
of  reconstruction  as  they  appear  from 
the  psychologist's  viewpoint,  the  storm 
of  the  great  time  carries  me  away  and 
I  think  less  of  the  one  to  whom  I 
write  than  of  the  many  whom  I  should  like 

110 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

to  convince.  But  today  I  must  go  soberly  to 
work;  I  want  to  speak  of  the  new  idealism, 
which  surely  will  come  to  the  belligerent 
lands  and  to  the  neutral  ones,  to  Europe  and 
to  America ;  and  the  mere  word  idealism  sug- 
gests the  temptation  to  become  enthusiastic 
and  rhapsodic.  But  nowhere  is  there  a 
greater  danger  of  the  eulogy  missing  its 
point.  In  praising  idealism  we  too  readily 
forget  that  there  are  many  kinds  of  idealism 
in  the  world  and  that  our  ecstasy  is  meaning- 
less unless  we  define  pretty  carefully  what 
type  of  idealism  we  have  in  mind. 

It  always  struck  me  as  rather  superficial 
that  when  authors  begin  to  speculate  about 
the  changes  in  future  civilization,  their  fancy 
regularly  moves  in  the  paths  of  physical  sci- 
ence. They  give  us  the  super-telephone  and 
the  thirtieth-century  airship,  and  they  ignore 
the  fact  that  the  real  changes  in  the  history 
of  civilization  have  not  come  so  much  from 
inventions  as  from  new  principles  of  life. 
The  idea  of  brotherly  love,  the  idea  of  the 
value  of  knowledge,  the  idea  of  the  worthi- 
ness of  labor,  the  idea  of  social  justice,  the 
idea  of  self-government,  the  idea  of  the  abo- 
lition of  slavery,  and  many  other  large  and 
111 


TOMORROW 

small  revolutions  of  the  mind  have  created 
the  real  history  of  mankind.  The  French 
Eevolution  really  changed  the  world.  I  be- 
lieve firmly  that  the  war  of  today  will  change 
the  world  no  less.  But  the  change  will  again 
be  an  internal  one ;  a  new  idealistic  faith  will 
arise  and  will  be  victorious,  whatever  the  vic- 
tories or  defeats  at  the  battlefront  of  the 
war-makers  or  at  the  round  table  of  the  dip- 
lomatic peacemakers  may  be.  This  faith  will 
be  one  which  has  found  its  clearest,  self-con- 
scious expression  in  German  life,  and  in  this 
sense,  whatever  the  cannons  may  say,  the 
war  will  end  with  the  spiritual  triumph  of 
the  German  nation. 

You  can  imagine  what  a  protest — no,  what 
a  storm  of  indignation  such  a  creed  would 
unchain,  if  I  were  to  utter  it  in  the  empire 
of  the  American  printing  press.  *  *  Those  bar- 
barians may  crush  weak  peoples  by  their 
brute  force,  but  there  is  nothing  spiritual  in 
them  which  would  win  the  day*' — that  is  their 
slogan  and  will  remain  their  comfort  until 
some  day  that  new  faith  wins  in  these  print- 
ers* trenches  too.  But  even  you  may  easily 
misinterpret  my  prophecy ;  you  may  class  me 
among  those  whose  German  patriotism  gives 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

them  a  distorted  perspective  of  the  European 
nations.  I  know  there  is  very  little  hate  in 
Germany  since  the  first  outburst  of  patriotic 
passion  has  passed,  but  not  a  few  think  that 
they  owe  it  to  the  loftiness  of  the  German 
cause  to  depreciate  the  qualities  of  the  hostile 
countries.  Nothing  is  further  from  my  mind. 
August,  1914,  has  not  changed  my  admiration 
for  the  great  history-making  virtues  of  Eng- 
land, of  France,  of  Italy,  of  Kussia;  and  in 
not  a  few  ways  my  respect  for  them  has 
grown.  Moreover,  I  sincerely  expect  and 
hope  that  in  this  social  regeneration  of  the 
world  Germany,  too,  will  learn  much  from 
her  rivals.  In  the  relation  both  to  foreign 
countries  and  to  its  colonies  Germany  will 
surely  add  many  a  virtue  of  its  western 
neighbors  to  its  inborn  traits.  But  when  the 
German  idealism  exerts  its  influence  in  other 
lands,  it  will  be  more  than  an  additional  touch 
or  a  mere  imitative  supplement;  it  will  be 
truly  the  spread  of  a  new  principle  which 
takes  a  firm  hold  of  the  inmost  soul  of  the 
nations. 

I  know  you  will  read  these  lines  with  a 
skeptical  smile  because  you  as  a  historian  do 
not  believe  much  in  the  abstract  general  prin- 
113 


TOMORROW 

ciples  by  which  the  philosopher  tries  to  ex- 
press the  essence  of  a  people.  You  prefer 
carefully  to  gather  the  thousand  single  fea- 
tures and  actions  which  have  been  registered. 
They  give  an  actual  account  of  the  real  hap- 
penings, while  all  those  vague  formulae  are 
merely  superadded  by  the  observer.  I  think, 
on  the  contrary,  that  if  you  understand  the 
formula  of  an  individual  or  of  a  nation,  of 
a  period  or  of  a  whole  age,  you  grasp  more 
than  any  catalogue  of  events  can  give  you. 
It  is  the  same  difference  as  between  a  painted 
portrait  of  a  man  and  a  series  of  moving  pic- 
tures taken  of  him.  To  be  sure  those  photo- 
graphs on  the  film  show  every  gesture  and 
every  expression:  nothing  is  left  out.  And 
yet  you  know  much  more  about  the  true  per- 
sonality and  character  of  the  man  if  the  brush 
of  the  painter  has  rendered  it  on  the  canvas. 
The  painter  gives  one  position  only,  but  his 
intuition  has  grasped  the  one  expression  in 
which  the  man's  whole  individuality  is  held 
forever. 

What  is  the  characteristic  feature  in  the 
physiognomy    of    modern    Germany?      The 
usual  answer  is :  Efficiency  through  organiza- 
tion.   The  Germans'  talent  and  instinct  for 
114 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

organization  are  held  responsible  for  their 
successes  before  the  war  and  in  the  war.  I 
do  not  think  that  this  hits  the  center  of  the 
target  at  all.  Might  we  not  even  confess  that 
this  freely  spent  praise  of  the  Germans'  in- 
stinct for  organization  is  to  a  certain  degree 
unmerited?  A  misunderstanding  is  involved 
there.  I  find  that  Germans  left  to  themselves 
have  rather  little  talent  and  inclination  to 
organize  themselves  for  common  action. 
Their  mental  habits  at  once  lead  into  differ- 
ences of  opinion;  each  one  has  his  own  plan. 
In  case  of  an  emergency  among  Germans 
there  is  a  great  chance  that  in  spite  of  the 
best  intentions  much  energy  will  be  spent  at 
cross-purposes  and  the  organization  will  be 
at  first  clumsy.  I  have  often  observed  that 
the  Americans,  for  instance,  in  case  of  an  ac- 
cident, have  a  much  stronger  and  safer  or- 
ganizing instinct.  Such  misplaced  popular 
appreciation  of  mental  traits  in  other  nations 
is  frequent.  Almost  every  German  visitor 
puts  emphasis  on  the  one  great  talent  of  the 
Americans,  to  make  the  most  of  their  time. 
They  are  the  most  time-saving  people.  If 
he  looked  more  deeply,  he  would  discover 
that  the  American  nation  wastes  nothing 
115 


TOMORROW 

more  than  time,  as  only  a  very  rich  nation 
can  afford  to  do. 

If  Germany's  characteristic  virtue  were 
really  nothing  but  organization,  we  surely 
could  not  speak  of  a  great  new  principle  and 
least  of  all  could  we  bring  it  into  connection 
with  idealism.  Organization  is,  after  all, 
merely  a  technical  method.  The  factory  sys- 
tem shows  it  in  a  perfected  form,  and  cer- 
tainly in  England  and  not  in  Germany  the 
team  work  of  the  mills  was  generated.  But 
what  is  then  the  real  moving  energy  behind 
that  world  of  German  organization,  efficiency 
and  "Kultur,"  to  use  a  word  which  can  with- 
stand the  sneer  of  those  who  do  not  under- 
stand it?  It  seems  to  me  not  an  ability  and 
not  a  method,  but  a  certain  belief.  I  should 
say  first:  it  is  a  belief  in  "absolute"  values. 
I  know  you  call  such  terms  philosophic  cant, 
but  after  all  they  point  the  way  most  quickly. 
Belief  in  absolute  values  means  simply  that 
the  deed  is  valued  independent  from  the 
pleasure  it  brings.  Whatever  is  valuable 
only  in  so  far  as  it  yields  pleasure  to  some- 
one is  a  relative  value;  but  if  we  are  filled 
with  the  belief  that  an  action  has  value  with- 
out any  reference  to  pleasure  or  pain,  then 
116 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

we  credit  it  with  absolute  value.  To  be 
guided  in  life  by  such  a  belief  is  idealism. 
Most  of  our  actions  are  controlled  by  our 
wish  for  pleasure  or  by  our  fear  of  pain; 
many  men  do  not  know  any  other  motive  at 
all  for  action.  But  whoever  performs  an  act 
because  its  goal  appears  to  him  one  of  abso- 
lute value  does  an  idealistic  deed.  If  I  try 
to  make  a  discovery  because  I  should  have 
an  advantage  from  it,  it  would  be  indifferent 
from  the  standpoint  of  idealism.  If  I  per- 
form the  same  work  because  I  believe  in  the 
absolute  value  of  scientific  truth,  I  am  stirred 
by  an  idealistic  motive.  There  may  be  no 
less  glory  in  a  realistic  civilization,  but  surely 
the  deepest  energy  of  the  German  develop- 
ment has  been  the  idealistic  conviction. 

Yet  this  is  only  half  of  the  story.  Abso- 
lute value  may  be  accredited  to  different 
aims.  Truth  may  be  such  a  value,  but  so 
may  beauty  or  justice  or  progress  or  char- 
acter development  or  religion.  Devotion  to 
one  by  no  means  excludes  devotion  to  others ; 
but  the  trends  of  various  times  or  the  char- 
acters of  various  peoples  emphasize  different 
values.  A  certain  nation  may  have  deep 
idealistic  traits,  but  its  idealism  may  be  cen- 
117 


TOMORROW 

tered  in  the  formation  and  growth  of  the  in- 
dividual soul:  its  ideal  is  the  value  of  the 
personality.  The  German  faith  is  not  of  this 
individualistic  type;  it  is  fixed  on  those 
values  which  do  not  belong  to  this  or  that 
special  individual,  but  which  can  be  realized 
only  in  the  community.  The  aims  of  the 
single  person  are  then  submerged  in  the  aims 
of  the  whole  embracing  group.  The  true 
German  is  guided  neither  by  the  realistic 
hope  for  his  pleasures  and  advantages  nor 
by  the  idealistic  belief  in  the  development  of 
his  own  soul,  but  by  his  feeling  of  duty  to- 
ward the  common  aims  and  ideals.  His  life 
is  a  contribution  to  fulfillments  which  lie  be- 
yond himself. 

Let  me  spin  on  this  contemplation  for  some 
further  letter  pages  so  as  to  protect  it 
against  misunderstanding.  The  word  ideal- 
ism is  likely  to  suggest  that  only  spiritual 
achievements  like  science  and  art,  justice  and 
statecraft  are  in  view,  and  not  material  in- 
terests like  commerce  and  industry.  This 
is  surely  not  the  idea.  The  progress  of  eco- 
nomic life  has  in  itself  the  full  dignity  of  a 
real  value.  Whoever  builds  up  an  industrial 
plant  only  to  gain  his  profit  from  it,  stands 
118 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

outside  of  the  idealistic  sphere;  but  if  he 
devotes  himself  to  the  task  inspired  by  en- 
thusiastic interest  in  the  technical  advance 
of  mankind,  he  serves  a  true  value  and  there- 
fore acts  from  an  idealistic  motive. 

But  you  will  be  more  surprised  when  I 
add  that  the  German  idealism  is  by  no  means 
bound  up  with  the  state.  I  know  this  sounds 
iconoclastic.  At  home  and  abroad  in  every 
discussion  it  has  been  taken  as  an  axiom: 
German  Kultur  is  a  function  of  the  state.  I 
think  this  puts  the  emphasis  in  the  wrong 
place.  The  often  heard  claim  that  the  state 
does  not  exist  for  the  individuals  but  the  in- 
dividuals for  the  state  is  perfectly  correct 
from  the  standpoint  of  German  idealism,  but 
exactly  the  same  is  true  of  any  other  group 
which  is  held  together  by  a  united  will  and 
by  aims  and  goals  of  its  own.  The  city  too  is 
not  for  the  citizens,  but  the  citizens  for  the 
city.  And  even  the  factory  is  not  for  the 
workmen,  but  the  workmen  for  the  factory. 
This  means  that  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
idealist  the  workman  ought  to  look  on  the 
mill  not  as  the  mere  source  of  wages  for  him 
and  his  fellow- workers,  but  as  a  wheel  in  the 
machinery  of  civilization,  a  wheel  which  he 
119 


TOMORROW 

helps  to  keep  moving,  because  its  motion  is 
in  itself  a  valuable  end;  then  only  does  he 
serve  an  ideal  purpose  and  his  unselfish  aim 
ennobles  his  humble  work. 

But  the  real  importance  of  this  point  lies 
in  the  fact  that  not  only  groups  narrower 
than  the  state  can  bind  the  will  of  the  per- 
sonality but  also  that  groups  wider  than  the 
state  can  and  must  secure  the  same  effect. 
It  is  utterly  wrong  to  think  that  German 
idealism  must  be  indifferent  to  communities 
larger  than  the  nation  and  that  it  can  have 
no  concern  with  international  aims.  Surely 
the  superficial  type  of  cosmopolitanism  has 
no  claim  on  idealistic  respect.  But  as  soon 
as  groups  of  states  are  combined  in  an  or- 
ganized unity  by  which  a  common  will  can 
be  formed  and  expressed,  they  demand  loy- 
alty like  a  single  state.  How  could  it  be 
otherwise?  The  German  idealism  makes  the 
Prussian  live  in  the  aims  of  Prussia  and 
the  Saxon  in  the  aims  of  Saxony;  but  that 
does  not  exclude  either  from  devoting  him- 
self to  the  purposes  of  the  whole  German 
nation.  If  Germany  and  Austria  were  firmly 
organized  into  one  internal  unit  with  one 
definite  aim,  each  citizen  would  subordinate 
120 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

his  endeavor  to  the  will  of  this  state  group; 
and  if  the  states  of  Europe  or  of  the  whole 
globe  were  united,  the  will  of  this  widest 
organization  would  become  efficient  by  be- 
coming the  will  of  every  single  member.  The 
essential  condition  is  not  the  national  state 
but  the  stability  of  the  organization  by  which 
the  combined  individuals  may  become  clearly 
conscious  of  their  unified  will.  Hence  Ger- 
man Kultur-idealism  is  unfairly  denounced 
when  it  is  blamed  for  a  narrow  adoration  of 
the  state  by  which  the  interests  of  the  other 
states  are  neglected  in  an  egotistic  way.  On 
the  contrary,  the  devotion  to  the  state  by  no 
means  excludes  the  most  faithful  devotion 
to  the  will  of  mankind,  as  soon  as  it  is  inter- 
nationally organized. 

Of  course,  it  is  not  by  chance  that  the 
idealistic  idea  stuck  first  of  all  to  the  state, 
as  its  members  are  naturally  and  from  the 
start  controlled  by  uniform  thoughts  and 
emotions;  their  common  past  and  future 
bind  them  together,  and  a  community  will 
is  generated  in  which  each  individual  rec- 
ognizes his  own  highest  longing.  Moreover 
Germany,  or  especially  the  Prussian  state, 
was  more  than  others  predestined  to  develop 
121 


TOMORROW 

this  idealistic  creed  in  connection  with  the 
state.  At  the  time  when  the  principles  of 
idealism  had  been  proclaimed  by  Kant  and 
Fichte,  the  citizens  of  Prussia  were  welded 
together  with  iron  firmness  by  the  Napole- 
onic pressure.  Yet  the  resulting  unity  of 
feeling  would  have  been  inefficient  if  Prus- 
sian history  had  not  created  a  remarkable 
tradition  of  a  faithful  civil  service.  A  well- 
trained  bureaucratic  staff  was  the  essential 
condition  for  a  true  fulfillment  of  the  or- 
ganized will  of  the  state.  For  a  century  the 
preparedness  of  this  civil  service  organiza- 
tion has  grown  steadily ;  and  no  smaller  and 
no  larger  group  than  the  German  state  can 
offer  to  the  German  a  form  of  organization 
which  has  comparable  firmness  or  which 
can  provide  for  similar  means  of  efficient  far- 
sighted  preparation  and  adjusted  action. 
The  state  has  therefore  remained  central  in 
his  idealistic  ideas  of  organized  efficiency. 
But  the  idealistic  principle  itself  is  as  much 
meant  for  the  widest  group  as  for  the  small- 
est, for  the  family  as  well  as  for  the  concert 
of  the  nations  of  the  world,  as  soon  as  it 
really  is  a  concert. 

This  idealistic  principle,  which  has  given 
122 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

meaning  to  the  striving  and  the  strife  of 
Germany,  this  faith  in  the  absolute  value  of 
group  achievements  will  spread  over  the 
world  together  with  the  principle  of  nation- 
alism. The  other  nations,  while  in  the  most 
terrific  struggle  the  world  has  seen,  have 
at  the  same  time  grasped,  tried  and  wel- 
comed the  life  idea  of  their  enemies.  From 
the  battlefields  it  spread  over  all  the  lands, 
and  from  the  belligerent  to  the  neutral  coun- 
tries; the  belief  in  the  new  idealism  will  be 
the  central  idea  of  the  globe  after  the  war. 
At  the  threshold  of  the  century  Mr.  Stead 
wrote  a  brilliant  book  which  he  rightly  called 
"The  Americanization  of  the  World."  In 
this  sense  the  war,  whatever  the  future  map 
may  tell,  will  truly  end  with  the  Germaniza- 
tion  of  the  world.  It  is  a  Germanization  in 
which  every  true  German  will  rejoice  more 
than  in  any  world  dominion  by  conquest, 
which  is  a  low  un-German  idea  imputed  to  the 
nation  only  by  those  who  have  no  inkling  of 
the  German  ideals.  This  new  idealism  will 
be  as  powerful  a  molding  energy  in  the  world 
as  were  the  ideals  which  the  French  Eevo- 
lution  made  predominant. 
The  conversion  came  because  the  war  with 


TOMORROW 

its  supreme  demands  suddenly  stopped  all 
the  leisurely  dilettantism,  all  the  go-as-you- 
please  methods  which  are  so  comfortable  for 
those  who  use  them  and  so  winning  for  those 
who  look  on,  but  which  are  ultimately  so  in- 
efficient. Men  of  all  countries  felt  that,  as 
Mr.  Hearst  said,  "aside  from  the  mili- 
tarism the  Germans  have  made  the  most  im- 
portant contributions  of  all  the  European 
peoples  to  Christian  civilization  during  the 
last  forty  years.  They  have  led  the  world 
in  scientific  achievements;  they  have  led  the 
world  in  their  cooperative  effort  toward  ef- 
ficiency; they  have  led  the  world  in  the 
amelioration  of  the  condition  of  the  working 
men  and  the  poor;  they  have  led  the  world 
in  the  development  of  the  best  use  of  the 
soil ;  they  have  led  the  world  in  the  develop- 
ment of  universal  education  as  the  basis  of 
national  strength,  service  and  happiness. 
Their  commercial  and  industrial  develop- 
ment has  been  greater  in  the  last  forty  years 
than  that  of  any  other  people  on  earth." 
Yet  those  who  studied  it  felt  at  the  same  time 
that  no  external  scheme,  no  mechanical  ad- 
ministration, but  true  idealism  had  secured 
these  marvels.  The  Reverend  L.  M.  Powers, 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

returning  here  from  the  European  battle- 
fields, writes  about  Germany:  "The  indi- 
vidual is  as  nothing,  the  nation  everything. 
This,  it  seems  to  me,  is  what  above  all  things 
makes  Germany  strong.  There  isxa  spiritual 
unity  and  elevation  and  strength  here  not 
to  be  found  elsewhere.  If  I  felt  that  Ger- 
many's success  was  due  merely  to  her  big 
guns,  her  military  training,  her  foresight  in 
planning  and  preparing  for  war,  I  should 
hate  Germany  as  badly  as  her  worst  enemy 
hates  her.  From  mere  force  nothing  good 
can  come.  It  is  my  firm  conviction  that  Ger- 
many is  greater  in  peace  than  in  war  and 
that  the  foundation  of  her  greatness,  as  is 
the  foundation  of  every  people  that  is  really 
great,  is  spiritual  power."  The  problems 
which  have  tortured  and  torn  other  peoples 
have  been  harmoniously  solved  in  socialized 
Germany. 

The  contrast  of  the  German  nation  with 
the  other  great  countries  of  Europe  was  so 
strong  that  even  such  Americans  as  later  be- 
came entirely  victims  of  the  passionate  pro- 
British  agitation  were  deeply  impressed  by 
it,  until  the  war  broke  out.  Even  a  man  like 
Owen  Wister,  who  is  today  surpassed  by  few 
125 


TOMORROW 

in  unfairness  to  Germany,  wrote  this  about 
his  impressions  a  few  weeks  before  the  war : 
"Nothing  can  efface  my  impression  of  Ger- 
many— the  fair  aspect  and  order  of  the  coun- 
try and  of  the  cities,  the  well-being  of  the 
people,  their  contented  faces,  their  grave 
adequacy,  their  kindliness  and,  crowning  all 
material  prosperity,  the  feeling  for  beauty 
as  shown  by  their  gardens  and,  better  and 
more  important  still,  the  reverend  value  for 
their  great  native  poets  and  musicians.  Such 
was  the  splendor  of  this  empire  as  it 
unrolled  before  me  through  May  and  June 
of  1914  that  by  contrast  the  state  of  its  two 
great  neighbors,  France  and  England, 
seemed  distressing  and  unenviable.  Paris 
was  shabby  and  incoherent,  London  full  of 
unrest.  Instead  of  Germany's  order  confu- 
sion prevailed  in  England;  and  in  both 
France  and  England  incompetency  was  the 
chief  note.  The  French  face  was  too  often  a 
face  of  worried  sadness  or  revolt ;  men  spoke 
of  political  scandals  and  dissensions,  petty 
and  unpatriotic  in  spirit,  and  a  political  trial 
revealing  depths  of  every  sort  of  baseness 
and  dishonor  filled  the  newspapers ;  while  in 
England,  besides  discord  of  suffrage  and  dis- 
126 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

cord  of  labor,  civil  war  seemed  so  imminent 
that  no  one  would  have  been  surprised  to  hear 
of  it  any  day.  So  that  I  thought :  Suppose  a 
soul  arrived  on  earth  from  another  world 
without  any  mortal  ties  whatever  were  given 
its  choice,  after  a  survey  of  the  nations, 
which  it  should  be  born  in  and  belong  to. 
In  May,  June  and  July,  1914,  my  choice 
would  have  been  not  France,  not  England, 
not  America,  but  Germany." 

It  is  a  leading  American  who  has  crystal- 
lized here  in  these  few  sentences  the  essence 
of  Europe.  It  is  part  of  the  pentecost  of 
calamity  which  overcame  public  opinion  in 
America  that  even  a  man  like  Owen  Wister 
can  sincerely  believe  that  all  this  was  true 
before  the  first  of  August  and  the  opposite 
true  after  the  first  of  August.  The  sociol- 
ogist must  ignore  the  distorted  picture  which 
his  passion  designed,  but  can  trust  the  more 
his  record  of  better  days.  It  sketches  what 
every  observer  felt.  England,  France  and 
Italy  were  losing  cultural  ground  and  Ger- 
many was  advancing.  Every  city,  every 
street,  every  face  told  the  story;  and  slowly 
it  dawned  on  all  Europe  that  the  German 
spirit  of  subordination  and  sacrifice  to  the 


TOMORROW 

will  of  the  organized  group,  that  is  German 
idealism,  was  responsible  for  the  daily  in- 
creasing distance.  The  first  year  of  the  war 
quickly  made  that  which  the  wisdom  of  the 
few  had  recognized  patent  to  everybody. 
Past  were  the  days  of  individualism  with 
their  disregard  of  the  expert,  with  their  belief 
in  free  rivalry  which  merely  opens  the  way  to 
selfishness,  with  the  indulgence  in  enjoyable 
privileges  where  stern  duty  is  calling,  with 
their  trust  in  humanistic  sympathy  where 
firm  organization  ought  to  eradicate  the 
source  of  suffering.  The  two  years  of  allied 
warfare  behind  the  front  have  been  two 
years  of  forcing  Kultur-efficiency  of  the  Ger- 
man type  on  millions  upon  millions  who  had 
not  known  it  and  instinctively  disliked  it. 

H.  G.  Wells,  whose  epithets  are  boldly  di- 
rected against  Germany,  but  whose  argu- 
ments fight  strenuously  for  German  ideals, 
characterizes  the  contrasts  well  in  his  last 
volume  "What  is  Coming?*':  "For  every- 
one there  are  two  diametrically  different 
ways  of  thinking  about  life;  there  is  indi- 
vidualism, the  way  that  comes  as  naturally 
as  the  grunt  from  a  pig,  thinking  outwardly 
from  one's  self  as  the  centre  of  the  universe, 
128 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

and  there  is  the  way  of  thought  every  re- 
ligion is  trying  in  some  form  to  teach,  think- 
ing back  to  one's  self  from  greater  standards 
and  realities."  "Germany  will,  I  think,  be 
so  far  defeated  in  the  contest  of  endurance 
which  is  now  in  progress  that  she  will  have 
to  give  up  every  scrap  of  territorial  advan- 
tage she  has  gained ;  she  may  lose  most  of  her 
colonial  empire — but  she  will  have  at  least 
the  satisfaction  of  producing  far  profounder 
changes  in  the  chief  of  her  antagonists  than 
those  she  herself  will  undergo."  "So  we 
pass  from  the  fact  that  individualism  is 
hopeless  muddle  to  the  fact  that  the  indi- 
vidualist idea  is  one  of  limitless  venality. 
Who  can  buy  may  control.  The  western  na- 
tions have  taken  a  peculiar  pride  in  having 
a  free  Press,  that  is  a  Press  that  may  be 
bought  by  anyone. "  "  The  breakdown  of  in- 
dividualism has  been  so  complete  in  Great 
Britain  that  we  are  confronted  with  the  spec- 
tacle of  this  great  and  ancient  kingdom  re- 
constructing itself  perforce  while  it  wages 
the  greatest  war  in  history." 

There  is  no  doubt  that  older   spirit  was 
more  likable.     That  is  the  reason  why  the 
German  nation  of  the  last  two  decades  has 
129 


TOMORROW 

never  been  liked  as  much  as  others  among* 
its  neighbors.  That  jolly-good-fellow  spirit 
flourishes  most  in  a  leisurely  atmosphere 
where  everybody  lets  himself  go  and  hap- 
hazard moods  abound.  Wherever  rigid  rules 
prevail  and  everybody  is  tense  for  the  signal 
call  of  duty,  a  certain  stiffness  and  formality 
can  hardly  be  suppressed.  Relaxation  is  de- 
lightful, but  supreme  achievement  demands 
tension.  The  tension  of  the  spirit  has  come 
over  Europe.  Organization  for  cooperative 
efficiency  has  become  the  appeal  of  the  hour. 
The  hated  word  compulsion  sounded  through 
the  unaccustomed  world  and  threatened  the 
individualists,  until  they  began  to  understand 
that  German  idealism  does  not  rely  upon 
compulsion  but  on  obligation.  Not  fear  but 
belief  and  feeling  of  duty  bound  free  men 
in  the  industrial,  technical,  cultural  and  mili- 
tary service.  In  every  workshop  the  rhythm 
of  the  hammer  beat  grew  faster;  scientific 
theory  and  practical  labor  were  yoked  more 
firmly  than  ever  before.  The  disorganized 
actions  of  the  seven  allied  nations,  which 
had  led  to  Antwerp  and  Warsaw,  to  Gal- 
lipoli  and  Kut-el-Amara,  were  replaced  by 
a  steadfast  organization  with  united  will. 
130 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

Europe  learned  discipline;  and  for  the  next 
generation  Europe  will  not  unlearn  it  and 
will  not  give  up  the  spirit  of  sacrifice  and 
subordination.  Peace  will  come  and  those 
to  whom  life  meant  their  personal  pleasure 
and  success  will  feel  hereafter  that  life  is  not 
worth  living  if  it  is  not  fundamentally  ser- 
vice. 

What  will  be  removed,  what  will  be  re- 
placed by  the  idealistic  striving  of  the  new 
time?  The  opposing  force  which  will  be 
prostrated  first  of  all  is  the  spirit  of  selfish 
enjoyment.  Man's  nature  is  a  network  of 
desires:  the  wish  to  satisfy  them  needs  no 
encouragement  and  no  training.  The  fulfill- 
ment of  these  wishes  is  neither  good  nor  bad, 
as  long  as  it  does  not  interfere  with  greater 
interests.  But  the  more  selfish  desires  grow, 
the  greater  are  the  chances  that  other  de- 
mands of  the  soul,  will-impulses  toward  last- 
ing values,  will  be  hindered  and  choked  by 
them.  Material  civilization,  technical  ad- 
vance and  general  prosperity  naturally  feed 
the  desires  and  make  them  grow  rankly.  The 
last  half  century  with  its  unparalleled  in- 
dustrial expansion  multiplied  the  desires  and 
created  in  response  to  them  a  luxury  and 
131 


TOMORROW 

ostentatiousness  and  feeding  of  the  senses 
such  as  the  world  had  not  seen  since  the  days 
of  decaying  Rome.  Do  not  think  for  a  mo- 
ment that  I  exempt  the  Germany  of  the  ante- 
war  days  from  this  accusation.  I  think  when 
I  saw  you  last  in  Berlin  I  spoke  to  you  about 
the  alarm  which  I  felt  at  the  thousand  signs 
of  unsound  epicurism  and  self-gratification. 
Rococo  traits  had  pervaded  Germany  as  well 
as  the  rest  of  Europe.  Yet  I  knew  that  a 
stern  idealism  was  growing  in  Germany  still 
faster  than  the  voluptuousness  of  modern 
life  and  would  win  the  day  in  a  crisis.  The 
crisis  came,  and  hereafter  the  frivolity  of 
life  will  be  silent  on  every  road  of  Europe 
on  which  soldiers  have  marched. 

The  carnival  was  too  gay;  and  yet  the 
day  to  come  will  not  be  clouded  by  an  Ash 
Wednesday  mood.  Of  course,  human  nature 
remains  human  nature,  and  there  will  be  self- 
ishness and  vanity  and  sensuality  and  lazi- 
ness in  the  world  at  every  time  and  in  every 
nation.  It  has  always  been  so  and  will  re- 
main so.  But  the  great  swing  and  the  over- 
whelming trend  have  often  changed  in  the  his- 
tory of  mankind ;  and  they  are  changing  now 
from  the  craving  for  pleasure  to  the  readi- 
132 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

ness  for  duty.  The  life  of  devotion  is  not 
less  abundant,  and  surely  it  ought  never  to 
be  devoid  of  beauty.  The  puritanic  error 
was  always  to  believe  that  the  joy  in  beauty 
is  a  selfish  pleasure.  The  new  idealism  will 
not  be  tainted  by  such  an  esthetic  sin.  True 
beauty  is  as  much  an  ideal  value  as  truth  and 
morality  and  religion.  He  has  not  under- 
stood the  meaning  of  art  who  compares  it 
with  the  mere  selfish  pleasure  of  gratifying 
the  personal  desires.  Esthetic  joy  is  over- 
personal  and  the  future,  filled  with  idealistic 
belief,  will  uproot  the  shallow  luxury  of  our 
time,  but  will  surely  never  fail  to  intertwine 
the  gifts  of  beauty  with  the  achievements  of 
the  will  toward  duty. 

Nor  does  this  turn  toward  the  life  of  sacri- 
fice over-emphasize  the  bodily  aspect  which 
the  war  to  a  certain  degree  suggests.  There 
physical  courage  seems  the  paramount  duty. 
Yet  in  spite  of  skeptical  prophecies,  the 
psychologist  can  never  have  doubted  that  the 
instinct  for  physical  bravery,  born  from  the 
natural  aggressiveness  of  man,  §would  die  out 
last.  The  war  has  proved  this.  There  is  far 
too  much  lack  of  mental  and  moral  courage, 
but  in  every  nation  the  mere  physical  cour- 
133 


TOMORROW 

age  abounded  in  the  suggestive  surround- 
ings ;  and  as  everyone  has  it,  it  will  be  some- 
what discounted  after  this  universal  test. 
Loyalty  to  ideals,  loyalty  to  the  will  of  the 
group,  loyalty  which  effaces  all  selfish  de- 
sires, will  be  the  vehicle  of  the  future  until 
the  great-grandchildren  of  the  trench  fighters 
of  today  may  see  the  pendulum  again  swing 
in  the  opposite  direction. 

If  duty  for  its  own  sake  and  not  pleasure 
or  work  for  future  pleasure's  sake  becomes 
the  signature  of  the  time,  not  only  selfishness 
will  be  vanquished  but  many  altruistic  and 
humanistic  offerings  will  disappear.  On  the 
surface  the  opposite  might  be  expected.  Is 
not  sympathy  with  suffering  fully  in  the 
spirit  of  an  idealistic  age?  Is  it  not  a  goal 
worthy  of  the  noblest  community  will  to 
spread  pleasure  among  fellowmen?  Yes  and 
no.  In  so  far  as  altruistic  emotion  and  gen- 
erosity are  elements  of  personal  character 
development,  of  man's  inner  training  and 
self-development,  they  have  indeed  distinctly 
an  idealistic  .value ;  but  the  goal  is  then  a 
strictly  individual  growth  of  one's  own  per- 
sonality. But  as  far  as  the  intended  effect 
of  spreading  pleasure  is  concerned,  the  ideal- 
134 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

1st  would  look  on  it  with  indifference.  From 
his  standpoint  mere  pleasure  as  such  does 
not  belong  to  the  values.  The  millionfold 
pleasure  is  therefore  just  as  indifferent  as 
his  own  or  his  neighbor's  pleasure.  Life  is 
not  made  more  valuable  by  multiplying  the 
sources  of  comfort,  but  by  making  it  better 
and  richer  in  service.  Hence  the  mere  emo- 
tion of  sympathy  in  this  light  appears  more 
like  thoughtless  sentimentality;  and  it  must 
be  repressed  by  a  conscious  effort  to  improve 
social  conditions,  not  to  disseminate  pleasure, 
but  to  make  the  life  of  the  community 
worthier  and  to  put  it  on  a  higher  plane. 
Benefactions  and  charities  then  appear 
symptoms  of  a  poorly  organized  social  age; 
and  they  must  be  repressed  by  less  ego- 
centric efforts  to  build  up  a  community  in 
which  everybody  has  a  chance  for  fullest  self- 
development  and  amplest  service  to  the  eter- 
nal values. 

But  the  hardest  struggle  which  the  new 
idealism  will  have  to  pass  through  will  not 
be  with  selfishness  or  with  sentimentality  but 
with  individualistic  idealism,  because  the  new 
idealism  is  clearly  not  individualistic. 
Surely  it  is  a  praiseworthy  life  which  is  de- 
135 


TOMORROW 

voted  to  purposes  of  self -improvement  and 
self-development,  but  the  time  for  which  we 
hope  is  tuned  to  higher  ideas.  Above  all,  the 
social  idealism  leaves  ample  room  for  loyalty 
to  individualistic  values.  We  can  serve  the 
organized  group,  the  organized  state,  the  or- 
ganized body  of  mankind ;  and  yet  can,  nay, 
ought  to  aim  toward  the  highest  perfection 
of  our  own  soul.  But  a  life  which  is  con- 
trolled merely  by  faith  in  individual  values 
is  hardly  touched  by  the  over-personal  will. 
To  the  convinced  individualist  every  over- 
personal  demand  appears  a  fantastic,  vague, 
intangible  illusion.  To  him  the  state  is  never 
anything  but  a  combination  of  individuals. 
Truth,  beauty,  morality,  have  meaning  for 
him  only  as  help  and  satisfaction  to  indi- 
viduals. He  does  not  grasp  that  their  truest 
value  is  annihilated  when  they  are  used  sim- 
ply to  satisfy  individuals.  Individualistic 
idealism,  of  course,  stands  high  above  mere 
selfishness,  and  there  have  been  ages  in  which 
the  greatest  service  to  mankind  came  through 
its  agency,  and  such  ages  may  come  again. 
But  individualism  is  unfit  for  the  greatest 
achievement  of  the  group.  Its  rivalry  can 
never  secure  what  organized  order  can  ac- 
136 


THE  NEW  IDEALISM 

complish.  Where  individualism  prevails, 
subordination  is  unwelcome ;  and  that  means 
that  dilettantism  flourishes  and  the  expert  is 
powerless.  The  dilettant  is  now  ruled  out 
and  the  triumph  of  the  expert  secured  all 
over  the  world  for  the  days  to  come ;  organi- 
zation replaces  haphazard  performance;  the 
self-conscious  will  of  the  group  suppresses 
the  individual  whim.  To  have  attained  this  is 
the  most  important  victory  of  the  German 
nation.  If  the  war  brought  nothing  else  this 
alone  may  make  us  feel  that  those  who  died 
on  both  sides  did  not  give  their  lives  in  vain. 
And  they  died  for  America  too;  the  new 
idealism  has  come  to  the  new  world  and  is 
wrestling  with  the  spirit  of  yesterday.  The 
next  steamer  may  bring  you  a  full  report 
about  this  new  American  idealism. 

Faithfully  yours, 
H.M. 


VI 
IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND: 

If  I  remember  rightly,  the  closing  words 
of  my  last  letter  spoke  about  the  new  Amer- 
ican idealism  which  has  grown  up.  At  pres- 
ent those  sheets  are  still  in  mid-ocean.  But 
when  this  letter  of  today  reaches  you,  the  last 
one  will  have  been  in  your  hands  for  a  week. 
I  can  well  imagine  what  will  have  happened 
in  that  interval.  Whenever  a  good  friend 
sits  down  in  your  study  and  you  begin  to  talk 
about  the  war,  you  will  take  my  letter  from 
the  file  on  your  desk  and  say:  "I  must  read 
to  you  the  end  of  a  letter  which  I  just  re- 
ceived— it  is  the  best  joke  I  have  read  for 
a  long  while — 'American  idealism'!" — and 
then  he  will  chuckle  with  you — and  you  will 
outdo  each  other  in  deriding  America's  self- 
ishness. He  will  say  that  the  Americans 
alone  prolonged  the  war  when  the  cause  of 
138 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

the  Allies  began  to  collapse  and  secured  the 
further  maiming  and  killing  of  hundreds  of 
thousands  in  order  to  gain  billions  from  the 
ammunition  sale.  And  you  will  add  that  they 
submitted  to  every  humiliating  British  viola- 
tion of  their  American  rights  in  order  to 
profit  from  war  loans.  He  will  go  on — Oh, 
the  list  is  long!  And  you  both  will  repeat 
again  and  again  with  contempt  the  words 
which  strike  you  so  humorously:  "American 
idealism!"  And  yet,  my  friend,  I  beg  you 
to  read  patiently  this  second  installment  of 
my  optimistic  report.  It  would  not  be  worth 
while  for  you  and  me  to  exchange  letters  in 
such  a  serious  style,  if  we  did  not  try  to  look 
deeper  than  the  man  on  the  street.  Where 
does  he  stand?  The  German  simply  sticks 
to  his  story  of  the  billion  sale  of  American 
shells  to  the  Allies,  while  none  went  to  the 
Germans,  and  of  the  American  silent  help  in 
the  effort  to  starve  the  German  women  and 
children.  The  American  repeats  his  tale  of 
German  barbarism  and  treacherous  atroci- 
ties. Both  are  sure  that  the  other  nation 
has  acted  contrary  to  the  laws  of  humanity 
and  that  no  true  idealism  can  be  in  the  soul 
of  the  other  people.  But  is  such  smoking-car 
139 


wisdom  and  stump-speech  rhetoric  really  a 
text  for  you  and  me?  Let  us  shake  off  the 
delusions  and  above  all  let  us  look  to  the  es- 
sentials which  alone  make  history,  and  you 
will  no  longer  smile  if  I  tell  you  with  earn- 
est conviction:  Yes,  the  Americans  of  today 
are  truly  idealists. 

But  I  add  at  once:  They  did  not  become 
idealists  today  or  yesterday.  The  nation 
was  born  and  grew  up  under  the  star  of 
idealism  and  nobody  ever  understood  the 
working  of  the  American  mind  who  did  not 
recognize  in  it  the  element  of  idealistic  faith. 
I  remember  well  what  a  revelation  it  was  for 
me  when  I  arrived  on  these  shores  for  the 
first  time.  I  was  filled  with  the  prejudices 
with  which  every  European  of  the  educated 
classes  is  stuffed:  The  Americans  are  ma- 
terialists and  dollar  hunting  is  their  only 
pastime.  It  is  the  usual  calamity;  nations 
do  not  know  one  another  and  judge  from 
outer  symptoms  which  they  interpret  by  mo- 
tives of  their  own  invention.  When  I  tried 
to  grasp  the  real  energies  of  the  life  which 
surged  around  me,  I  saw  that  the  political 
life  of  the  Americans  was  guided  by  an 
intense  spirit  of  self-direction.  Indeed,  who- 
140 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

ever  wishes  to  understand  the  baffling  tur- 
moil, the  inner  mechanism  behind  all  the  po- 
litical forces,  must  set  out  from  this  point. 
In  his  private  life  the  American  is  very  ready 
to  conform  to  the  will  of  another,  but  in  the 
sphere  of  public  life  the  individual  feels  that 
he  must  guide  his  activities  to  the  last  detail, 
if  they  are  to  have  any  significance  whatever 
to  him.  He  will  allow  no  outside  motive  to 
be  substituted,  not  even  the  recognition  that 
a  material  advantage  would  accrue  or  that 
some  desirable  end  would  be  more  readily 
achieved  if  the  control  and  responsibility 
were  to  be  vested  in  someone  else.  But  this 
is  exactly  the  criterion  of  idealism ;  the  deed 
is  performed  not  because  the  end  brings  ad- 
vantage, but  because  the  principle  of  the  act 
is  valuable  in  itself. 

Self-direction  appears  to  the  American  an 
ideal  value  in  which  he  trusts.  But  the  eco- 
nomic world  shows  the  same  grouping 
around  one  center.  Just  as  the  political  life 
of  America  can  be  traced  back  to  the  instinct 
for  self -direction,  so  it  can  be  found  that  it 
is  the  instinct  for  free  self -initiative  which 
has  set  in  motion  the  tremendous  economic 
flywheel.  The  desire  to  be  up  and  doing  has 
141 


TOMORROW 

opened  the  new  world,  has  tilled  the  fields, 
created  industries  and  developed  the  material 
resources  until  the  nation  has  become  an  eco- 
nomic world  power.  Not  the  greed  for  gold 
but  the  belief  in  the  value  of  productive  ef- 
fort in  itself  is  the  soul  of  this  commerce  and 
industry;  the  money  is  longed  for  as  the 
proof  of  the  successful  effort.  The  social 
character  of  American  life  is  no  less  con- 
trolled by  one  underlying  trait :  the  spirit  of 
self-assertion.  Here  is  the  root  of  the  new 
world  equality:  an  ideal  belief  in  equal  dig- 
nity and  worth  in  spite  of  all  outer  differ- 
ences controls  the  social  relations  from  man 
to  man.  This  spirit  educates  to  politeness, 
helpfulness  and  fairness.  Finally  the  intel- 
lectual life  is  molded  by  the  spirit  of  self- 
perfection.  The  old  puritanic  belief  that  ex- 
istence finds  its  meaning  only  in  ethical  en- 
deavor and  that  self-perfection  is  the  great 
duty  which  takes  precedence  of  all  others  re- 
mains the  informing  energy  of  the  nation. 
From  New  England,  which  for  more  than 
two  centuries  kept  the  cultural  leadership,  it 
spread  over  all  the  land  and  worked  for  edu- 
cation and  moral  purity.  Hence  in  every  one 
of  the  four  great  spheres  of  national  life,  the 
142 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

political,  the  economic,  the  social  and  the  cul- 
tural, a  strong  idealistic  faith  is  the  determin- 
ing power,  a  belief  in  something  which  is 
valuable  in  itself  without  regard  to  the  pleas- 
ure which  it  furnishes.  This  is  not  an  after- 
thought of  today.  I  have  my  evidence  in 
print.  At  the  threshold  of  the  century  I 
wrote  two  large  volumes,  "The  Americans," 
grouping  my  material  around  these  four 
idealistic  tendencies. 

But  this  is  clear :  If  these  four  traits  make 
up  American  idealism,  it  is  throughout  self- 
centered  and  individualistic.  The  ultimate 
value  lies  in  the  personal  soul,  not  in  the 
creation  of  independent  values.  The  indi- 
vidual with  his  rights,  his  efforts  and  his 
purity  is  all;  the  ideal  state,  the  ideal  com- 
munity, the  growth  of  art,  science  and  na- 
tional efficiency  as  such  are  unimportant 
compared  with  the  growth  of  the  individual 
personalities.  But  while  all  this  was  prob- 
ably the  correct  interpretation  of  American 
life  at  the  opening  of  the  century,  new  ener- 
gies began  to  be  felt  soon  afterward.  When 
shortly  before  the  war  my  publishers  re- 
printed "The  Americans"  in  a  popular  edi- 
tion, I  wrote  in  the  preface  as  follows: 
143 


TOMORROW 

''Some  years  have  passed  since  the  book 
started  on  its  pilgrimage.  It  was  a  time 
when  the  suffragists  and  the  automobiles  and 
the  socialists  and  the  cabarets  and  the  law- 
abiding  trusts  were  still  rare,  and  the  Pacific 
was  separated  by  land  from  the  Atlantic  and 
the  sexual  problem  separated  by  decency 
from  the  public  discussion.  The  changes 
have  broken  in  rapidly.  New  physical  and 
new  moral  canals  have  been  built.  The  poli- 
ticians have  rushed  into  Pr ogres sivism  and 
out  of  it ;  the  newspapers  into  anti- Japanism 
and  out  of  it;  the  lawyers  into  Shermanism 
and  out  of  it;  the  educators  into  electivism 
and  out  of  it;  the  magazines  into  muckrak- 
ing and  out  of  it.  Indeed  with  us  too  much 
of  the  excitement  of  the  noon  fades  before 
sunset ;  and  yet  nobody  can  doubt  that  really 
great  changes  have  come  over  the  American 
nation  in  its  political,  its  economic,  its  in- 
tellectual, its  cultural  and  its  social  behavior. 
The  position  of  capital  has  gone  through  dis- 
tinct development.  Wealth  has  surely  not 
decreased,  but  the  belief  in  the  privileges  of 
wealth  and  in  its  leadership  has  been  shaken. 
The  social  conscience  has  been  awakened  and 
a  certain  socialistic  feeling  has  penetrated 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

the  whole  comnninity.  Democracy  has 
sought  to  emphasize  its  consequences.  The 
old-fashioned  faith  in  the  system  of  checks 
and  balances  to  the  influence  of  the  masses 
has  lost  its  hold.  The  high  tariff  had  to  be 
lowered,  the  high  income  had  to  be  tapped 
and  the  high  legislators  had  to  be  brought 
down.  The  workingman  has  learned  his 
strength  and  the  merger-man  his  weakness. 
At  the  same  time  puritanism,  from  which 
the  most  characteristic  elements  of  Ameri- 
can civilization  had  grown  up,  receded  with 
unexpected  suddenness.  The  new  wealth  and 
the  new  freedom,  the  rapid  expansion  of 
technical  comfort,  the  gigantic  immigration 
from  southern  and  eastern  Europe  with  its 
warmer  sensuality,  all  worked  together  to 
bring  us  an  America  of  excessive  worldliness, 
an  America  which  craves  for  amusement  at 
any  price.  The  kino,  the  auto  and  the  tango 
are  symbols  of  the  day.  But  in  spite  of  all 
the  feministic  foam  and  the  libertinistic  pose, 
the  anti-puritanic  period  has  brought  a  true 
arising  of  deeper  esthetic  values.  A  desire 
for  beauty  and  harmony  fills  our  life  more 
than  ever  before.  The  drama  has  come  to 
its  own.  And  above  all,  while  the  old  leader- 
145 


TOMORROW 

ship  of  wealth  and  of  puritanic  restraint  is 
disappearing,  a  new  cultural  leadership  is 
slowly  developing  its  strength.  The  nation 
feels  instinctively  that  whatever  clamor  pol- 
itics may  make,  the  inner  civilization  cannot 
rely  on  the  censorship  of  the  masses,  which 
follow  any  fashion  and  hysteric  outcry.  We 
cannot  have  a  cultural  referendum  and  a 
spiritual  recall.  The  longing  for  the  true 
scholarly  expert  and  for  the  most  highly  edu- 
cated leader  has  become  definite.  The  vulgar 
disrespect  for  pure  intellectual  work  has 
ceased  and  the  nation  has  begun  to  discrimi- 
nate between  those  who  do  not  make  money 
because  they  have  not  the  power  to  do  so 
and  those  who  do  not  make  money  because 
they  have  more  important  things  to  do. 
Through  all  this  America  moves  more  and 
more  into  the  same  groove  in  which  Euro- 
pean culture  is  moving  forward.'* 

This  was  written  in  the  beginning  of  the 
momentous  year  1914.  Then  came  the  war, 
and  the  movement  away  from  individualism 
grew  rapidly.  Over-personal  idealism  has 
today  taken  such  strong  hold  of  the  nation 
that  not  much  prophetic  art  but  merely  some 
psychology  is  needed  to  foresee  that  the 
146 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

much  derided  German  Kultur  will  be  the 
American  ideal  of  tomorow.  One  fact  il- 
lumines the  national  situation.  The  Progres- 
sive party  has  ceased  to  exist.  Did  it  disap- 
pear because  its  tendencies  were  unwelcome 
to  the  people  ?  Certainly  not.  It  had  to  give 
up  because  it  had  become  superfluous ;  and  it 
was  superfluous  because  the  two  leading  tra- 
ditional parties  have  practically  accepted  the 
Progressive  program.  In  other  words,  not 
a  group  but  the  whole  nation  has  now  fol- 
lowed the  Progressive  lead;  and  American 
Progressivism  is  fundamentally  the  over- 
personal  idealism  which  has  built  up  mod- 
ern Germany.  The  New  York  World  and 
other  papers  wanted  to  denounce  the  Eoose- 
velt  movement  when  they  angrily  called  it 
an  adaptation  of  German  ideas  to  American 
life;  but  whether  it  is  observed  in  scorn  or 
in  sympathy,  surely  the  affinity  cannot  be 
overlooked.  The  social  economic  problems, 
however,  bring  this  German  element  to  still 
sharper  relief  than  the  strictly  political  ones. 
The  most  powerful  preacher  of  the  new 
Americanism  knows  quite  well  that  he  really 
teaches  Germanism.  Hence  I  do  not  feel  up- 
set by  the  mockery  of  your  letter  in  which 
147 


you  comment  on  my  sympathy  with  Roose- 
velt, the  Deutschenfresser.  I  discriminate 
between  the  infuriated  tirades  for  effect  in 
inner  politics,  phrases  sterile  in  the  real 
world  of  affairs,  and  well  considered  expres- 
sions of  matured  conviction.  The  true 
Roosevelt  has  this  to  say,  even  in  December, 
1915:  "Germany  has  been  far  in  advance  of 
us  in  securing  industrial  assurance,  old  age 
pensions  and  homes,  and  reasonably  fair  di- 
vision of  profits  between  employer  and  em- 
ployed, and  the  like.  But  she  has  also  been 
far  ahead  of  us  in  requiring  from  the  man 
who  toils  with  his  hands  just  as  much  as 
from  the  man  who  employs  him  loyalty  to 
the  nation.  .  .  .  There  is  absolute  need  of  a 
larger  nationalism  if  we  are  to  make  this 
country  as  efficient  as  Germany  is  efficient, 
and  if  at  the  same  time  we  are  to  secure 
justice  for  our  people.  Germany  has  out- 
distanced us  in  our  industrial  efficiency.  .  .  . 
Germany  has  taken  care  of  her  working 
classes  at  the  same  time  that  she  has  taken 
care  of  her  business  interests.  Her  pro- 
gram has  been  constructive  and  not  de- 
structive. .  .  .  Men  who  do  not  understand 
how  Germany's  industrial  system  has  worked 
148 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

speak  as  if  it  were  all  done  only  by  super- 
vision and  interference  on  the  part  of  the 
government  and  in  consequence  by  the  de- 
struction of  all  individual  initiative.  This  is 
not  the  fact.  Unlimited  private  competition 
in  business  may  result  in  the  elimination  of 
private  initiative  just  exactly  as  under  a  sys- 
tem of  private  competition  in  politics  unreg- 
ulated by  law  the  usual  result  is  a  despot 
with  all  the  power  and  nobody  else  with  any 
power.  The  countries  that  are  free  politi- 
cally are  the  countries  in  which  the  political 
activity  of  the  individual  is  regulated.  The 
same  is  true  industrially.  In  Germany  the 
government  does  not  interfere  in  the  private 
affairs  of  a  business  except  where  it  abso- 
lutely must ;  but  it  makes  the  men  responsible 
for  managing  that  business  take  hold  in  con- 
junction with  their  employees  and  in  con- 
junction with  the  government  authorities  to 
see  that  justice  is  done."  The  nation-wide 
movement  for  military  preparedness  is  only 
another  expression  of  this  progressive  spirit. 
All  moves  toward  the  same  end:  not  the 
single  individuals  and  their  pleasure  and  not 
even  their  idealistic  purity  and  self-develop- 
ment and  self-initiative  is  the  highest  goal, 

149 


TOMORROW 

but  the  group,  the  community,  the  state,  and 
their  over-personal  honor  and  justice  and 
cultural  growth. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  the  reaction  has 
set  in,  as  the  full  consequences  of  the  old 
individualism  became  more  and  more  danger- 
ous. In  the  easy  times  of  a  simpler  past  the 
shortcomings  of  American  individualism 
were  little  felt  because  the  resources  of  the 
land  were  hardly  tapped  and  international 
competition  was  entirely  in  the  background. 
Today  the  country  stands  in  the  midst  of  po- 
litical and  economic  and  cultural  world  riv- 
alry, and  its  own  internal  life  conditions 
have  grown  more  difficult.  It  can  no  longer 
afford  the  luxury  of  individualism;  it  has  to 
pay  too  dearly  for  it.  The  social  mistakes 
and  deficiencies  of  the  country  result  first  of 
all  from  the  high-strung  individualism  of  the 
nation  with  its  disregard  for  the  independent 
will  of  the  embracing  group  and  with  its  an- 
tipathy to  personal  subordination.  Indeed 
it  is  not  a  question  of  the  shortcomings  which 
result  from  ill-will  and  criminal  intent.  Anti- 
social defectives  are  born  in  every  country. 
The  point  is  rather  that  the  nation  has  suf- 
fered too  much  from  the  defects  of  its  vir- 
150 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

tues,  from  the  wrongs  which  come  through 
its  accredited  principles. 

One  fundamental  fault  of  the  individualist 
has  been  especially  influential.  He  follows 
the  path  of  his  personal  interest,  of  his  lik- 
ing, of  his  instinct.  The  result  is  that  he 
not  only  abhors  compulsion  for  himself,  but 
objects  to  the  idea  of  disciplinary  force  for 
others.  Hence  he  believes  in  education  which 
is  adjusted  to  the  liking  of  the  child.  Only 
the  material  which  attracts  the  involuntary 
attention  of  the  boy  and  girl  is  fit  for  their 
instruction.  But  the  youth  of  the  country 
educated  after  this  pattern  may  learn  a  thou- 
sand things,  but  never  learn  to  learn.  The 
children,  coddled  by  the  mere  appeal  of  liking, 
spoiled  by  methods  of  free  election,  enter 
life  without  any  power  to  control  their  at- 
tention and  to  bind  their  will.  They  know 
only  the  paths  of  least  resistance ;  they  never 
have  benefited  from  a  training  which  teaches 
them  to  perform  unwelcome  duty.  Their 
minds  are  naturally  swayed  by  everything 
which  tempts  their  attention  by  its  loudness 
and  glare.  They  are  adjusted  to  the  sensa- 
tions of  the  hour  and  to  the  headlines  of  the 
minute.  They  lack  resistance  to  the  super- 
151 


TOMORROW 

ficial  glamour  and  still  more  the  power  to 
uphold  persistently  anything  which  does  not 
strike  their  individual  liking. 

It  is  only  another  form  of  their  lack  of 
discipline  when  such  an  individualistic  com- 
munity ignores  the  expert.  Everyone  is  his 
own  master,  everyone  feels  himself  com- 
petent for  every  place,  everyone  has  a  right 
to  offer  to  everyone  his  advice.  A  public 
life  built  up  on  expert  advice  must  demand 
from  everyone  constant  subordination.  It 
is  only  a  counterpart  of  the  lack  of  respect 
for  the  trained  specialist  if  the  youth  shows 
lack  of  respect  for  the  public  authorities. 
The  effect  of  individualistic  arbitrariness  is 
felt  no  less  in  economic  life.  It  must  lead  to 
the  waste  of  public  resources,  to  a  ruthless 
destruction  of  the  national  treasures  for  pri- 
vate gain  and  exhaustion  of  the  soil  and  of 
the  forests,  everyone  reaping  for  himself 
without  regard  for  the  country  as  a  whole 
and  for  the  generations  to  come.  But  not 
only  is  the  conservation  of  national  resources 
neglected;  the  human  resources  are  wasted 
with  the  same  heedlessness.  Life  becomes 
unsafe,  accidents  abound,  the  whole  technique 
of  the  national  activities  becomes  unreliable, 
i  ^Q 

1-.I/V 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

The  public  conscience  and  the  feeling  of  re- 
sponsibility for  the  public  welfare  remains 
rudimentary  where  individualism  narrows 
the  horizon.  Corruption  in  city  politics,  lob- 
byism  in  the  halls  of  the  legislators,  pork 
barrel  statecraft,  a  spirit  of  trifling  with 
momentous  public  interests,  sap  the  national 
life.  Where  all  this  goes  on,  the  power  and 
strength  and  efficiency  of  a  nation  must 
finally  suffer,  however  high  the  average  of 
personal  purity  may  be ;  and  that  this  is  the 
case  has  forcefully  come  to  the  consciousness 
of  the  American  people. 

The  cry  for  the  conservation  of  the  na- 
tional resources,  for  the  protection  of  the 
forests  and  mines  and  rivers,  has  awakened 
the  public  conscience.  Movements  for  voca- 
tional guidance  and  vocational  education 
have  spread  over  the  land.  The  muckraking 
propaganda  has  helped  to  uproot  number- 
less misuses  which  grew  from  the  debauch 
of  individualism.  Socialistic  tendencies  have 
crept  into  every  statehouse;  the  central 
power  of  the  federal  government  has  been 
reenforced  against  the  peripheral  energies 
of  the  states  with  their  provincial  indi- 
vidualism. The  scientific  expert  is  more  and 
153 


more  often  called  into  the  service  of  public 
affairs.  The  creative  and  esthetic  ambition 
of  the  nation  has  been  stimulated  as  never 
before,  and  the  new  bugle  call  for  military 
preparedness  stirs  up  the  comfortable  indi- 
vidualism of  the  last  half  century.  This  is 
clear:  preparedness  cannot  begin  in  Platts- 
burg  camps ;  preparedness  must  begin  in  the 
nursery.  Without  discipline  in  the  home  and 
in  the  early  school  days  armies  cannot  be 
victorious  in  the  modern  battle  of  nations, 
and  at  the  first  test  the  aeroplanes  would  not 
fly  and  the  submarines  would  not  come  up 
from  the  bottom.  The  whole  country  has 
now  learned  this  great  lesson:  loyalty  to  the 
state  as  such,  loyalty  to  the  over-personal 
will,  is  the  supreme  demand  to  which  every 
individualistic  creed  must  become  adjusted. 
Over-personal  idealism  does  not  suppress  the 
individualistic  idealism  of  the  past,  but 
makes  it  serviceable  to  a  higher  good.  Every 
newspaper  page  of  today  bears  witness  to 
this  reorganization  throughout  the  land. 

May  I  confess  to  you,  my  friend,  that  I 

watch  this  tremendous  change  with  a  queer 

mixture  of  feelings  ?  The  changes  which  have 

set  in  are  exactly  those  for  which  I  have 

154 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

pleaded  ever  since  I  came  to  America.  My 
first  little  volume  of  marginal  notes  to 
American  education  and  politics,  social  life 
and  scholarship,  which  I  sent  out  into  the 
world  under  the  title  " American  Traits" 
was  such  a  psychological  warning  against  the 
dangers  of  exaggerated  individualism  from 
the  standpoint  of  a  German  idealist.  You 
know  I  did  not  forget  to  tell  Germans  how 
much  they  might  learn  from  American  in- 
dividualistic virtues;  but  I  felt  sure  that 
the  American  disregard  for  non-individual 
values  must  lead  to  disaster,  and  as  I  be- 
lieved that  a  new  spirit  must  begin  with  the 
education  of  the  youth,  I  felt  that  I  should 
not  fulfill  my  duty  if  I  did  not  interpret  my 
task  as  educator  widely  enough  to  include  a 
frank  expression  of  my  German-made  con- 
victions. Hence  I  ought  to  be  delighted  with 
the  change  which  has  come  to  the  nation.  It 
lies  directly  in  the  line  of  my  hopes ;  and  yet 
I  cannot  deny  that  I  feel  this  change  as  a 
loss,  as  just  that  America  dwindles  away 
which  fascinated  me  by  its  difference  from 
the  old  world  tendencies  to  which  I  was  ac- 
customed. There  is  an  undeniable  charm 
and  comfort  and  joyfulness  in  a  national  life 
155 


TOMORROW 

which  is  swayed  'by  individualism  and  when 
I  came  under  its  spell  I  loved  it  as  millions 
of  immigrants  have  loved  it  before.  I  felt 
that  it  was  unsound  and  unfit  for  the  days  of 
growing  international  complexity  and  of  in- 
creasing demands  for  social  justice  and  civic 
reorganization,  but  I  felt  it  as  attractive 
and  bewitching.  The  lack  of  discipline  makes 
life  so  easy.  The  optimism  and  the  good- 
fellowship  remove  all  the  resistance  which 
so  often  makes  continental  life  difficult. 
There  is  a  certain  rigid  harshness  in  every 
community  in  which  children  have  learned 
obedience  and  in  which  men  have  never  for- 
gotten it. 

When  even  the  outsider  feels  the  loss  of 
the  old  unfettered  community  life  with  such 
regret,  it  is  only  natural  that  many  who  were 
born  into  it  deplore  the  coming  of  the  new 
time.  Some  are  simply  afraid  that  inner 
discipline  and  subordination  to  the  authori- 
ties means  aggressive  militarism — the  Prus- 
sianism  of  the  cheap  caricature.  They  are 
not  aware  that  the  individual  German  has 
surely  no  less  freedom  in  the  higher  sense  of 
the  word  than  the  American.  Of  mere 
license  there  is  less  for  him,  but  the  oppor- 
156 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

tunity  to  develop  himself  in  accordance  with 
his  own  desires  and  ideals  is  in  many  ways 
greater  for  the  German  than  for  the  Amer- 
ican, as  he  is  less  chained  by  fashion  and 
public  prejudices.  The  Germans  differ  from 
one  another  much  more  than  the  Americans ; 
and  this  is  true  of  their  opinions  and  inter- 
ests, of  their  tastes  and  enjoyments,  as  well 
as  of  their  hats  and  collars.  Their  unwill- 
ingness to  be  classed  in  two  great  political 
parties  seems  to  me  typical.  The  German 
would  feel  his  freedom  impaired  if  he  had 
to  decide  between  only  two  patterns  of  po- 
litical thought,  which  means  in  too  many 
American  elections  the  choice  between  two 
evils.  The  free  German  demands  a  whole 
scale  of  parties  with  all  the  half-tones  be- 
tween. 

Others  try  to  put  on  the  brakes  because 
they  are  afraid  that  the  new  idealism,  for 
which  they  prefer  quite  different  names, 
might  destroy  much  of  the  work  of  their 
fathers.  They  see  with  increasing  alarm  the 
widespread  tendency  to  render  easier  the 
changes  in  the  constitution ;  the  conservative 
system  which  the  founders  of  the  republic 
created  and  which  has  given  protection  to 
157 


TOMORROW 

many  an  undeserved  privilege  seems  to  them 
in  danger  of  being  overridden  by  radical 
legislation.     No  doubt,  such  a  progressive 
tendency  exists;  it  is  the  natural  condition 
for  a  true  organization  of  the  national  will, 
which  hardly  came  to  its  own  as  long  as  all 
was    left    to    individualistic    rivalry.      The 
fathers  of  the  country  were  satisfied  with 
equal  laws  for  all,  but  in  the  new  time  it  has 
been  discovered  that  the  mere  impartiality  of 
laws  is  entirely  insufficient  for  the   social 
justice  which  the  new  idealism  proclaims. 
Not  only  equal  laws  are  needed,  but  laws 
which   aim  toward    a   certain  equalization. 
Wealth  is  not  a  product  of  individuals  but 
of  the  community;  the  will  of  the  equalizing 
community,  and  not  the  mere  enterprise  and 
the  unbridled   strength   of  the  individuals, 
must  be  authoritative  for  the  distribution  of 
this  community  product.    These  ideas,  which 
have  become  a  matter  of  course  for  the  new 
Germany  with  its  social  legislation,  are  ad- 
vancing rapidly  in  America  and  the  spirit 
of  the  past  is  indeed  threatened  by  them. 
Warning  voices  are  raised  against  this  un- 
deniable crisis  in  constitutionalism. 
Even  a  national  association  for  constitu- 
158 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

tional  government  has  been  founded  to  save 
whatever  can  still  be  saved.  David  Jayne 
Hill  is  its  spokesman.  At  the  time  when  he 
was  ambassador  to  Germany  and  I  served  as 
exchange  professor  in  Berlin,  you  met  him 
at  my  dinner  table,  and  you  remember  the 
beautiful  speech  he  made  that  night  about 
the  German  ideals  of  social  justice.  He  un- 
derstood them  perfectly  and  appreciated 
them  on  the  German  background,  but  since 
they  have  taken  hold  of  the  American  re- 
public he  fears  the  defeat  of  the  old  Ameri- 
can spirit.  "It  is  not  to  the  advantage  of 
the  individual  to  make  him  dependent,  to 
abridge  his  powers  of  self  help  or  to  take 
away  his  liberty  of  action  so  long  as  he  does 
not  injure  others.  Let  us  help  him,  certainly, 
if  he  needs  help,  but  not  delude  him  with 
the  error  that  more  is  rightly  coming  to  him 
than  he  has  ever  earned.  For  sympathy, 
charity,  good  example  and  unselfish  public 
service  there  will  always  be  room,  but  for 
the  suppression  of  native  powers,  for  abso- 
lute dictation  based  on  arbitrary  rules,  for 
the  assumption  that  society  is  more  impor- 
tant than  those  who  compose  it,  there  is  no 
place  in  a  free  republic. "  It  is  too  late !  It 
159 


TOMORROW 

is  defense  of  the  good  old  times  spoken  in  a 
voice  which  leaves  little  doubt  that  the  new 
times  with  their  new  ideas  have  taken  firm 
possession  of  the  land.  It  is  no  longer  an 
"assumption"  of  one  or  another  that  "so- 
ciety is  more  important  than  those  who  com- 
pose it,'*  but  it  is  the  new  light,  which  illumi- 
nates and  warms  the  new  American  genera- 
tion. The  belief  in  over-personal  values  can 
no  longer  be  uprooted  and  the  political  cen- 
tralization, the  legislative  socialization,  the 
military  preparation,  the  cultural  organiza- 
tion, cannot  be  delayed.  The  regeneration  of 
the  individual  must  follow — not  his  rights, 
but  his  loyalty,  his  service,  his  subordination 
to  the  community  and  its  symbols,  will  be  the 
center  of  his  life. 

A  characteristic  sign  of  the  advance  of 
this  new  idealism  is  the  constellation  in  the 
political  sky.  Three  men  only  are  today 
prominent:  Wilson,  Hughes  and  Roosevelt. 
They  differ  widely  but  all  three  are  new- 
fashioned  idealists.  In  the  German  news- 
papers of  today — I  hope  that  they  will  reach 
me  in  not  much  more  than  three  or  four 
months — the  portraits  of  the  three  men  are 
probably  not  painted  in  the  colors  of 

160 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

idealism;  they  know  Hughes  too  little,  and 
Wilson  and  Roosevelt — too  much!  Nor 
would  they  learn  better  from  the  American 
papers ;  the  time  of  a  presidential  campaign 
is  not  made  to  discover  the  noble  traits  of 
a  public  man.  What  the  party  friends  say  is 
silently  discounted,  as  it  is  made  up  for  ef- 
fect on  the  voters,  and  what  the  opponents 
say  is  exaggerated  and  ungenerous.  We  all 
know  that  it  is  possible  to  supply  low  mo- 
tives for  any  action.  History  seen  from  the 
worm  perspective  is  not  inspiring;  every 
public  deed  appears  as  a  selfish  or  even 
mercenary  trick.  The  President  may  make 
war  in  Mexico  or  keep  peace;  whatever  he 
does  will  be  interpreted  by  such  minds 
as  a  self-seeking  maneuver  for  reelection. 
Owen  Wister,  the  great  anti-German  patriot, 
sings  of  the  President — his  President: 
"You've  wormed  yourself  beyond  descrip- 
tion's reach — Truth  if  she  touched  you  would 
become  untrue."  For  that  type  of  mind  the 
European  monarchs  are  in  the  war  for  dy- 
nastic interests  and  Germany  went  into  the 
war  at  the  prompting  of  self-seeking  junkers. 
You  surely  ignore  such  silly  slander  when  it 
refers  to  the  European  persons,  as  you  know 
161 


TOMORROW 

better — why  can  you  not  neglect  it  when  it 
refers  to  America?  The  three  political  lead- 
ers of  today  are  not  the  egotists  of  the  car- 
toons but  sincere  and  loyal  idealists. 

It  would  be  poor  psychology  if  I  were  to 
deny  that  a  vivid  self-consciousness  forms 
their  mental  background;  without  it  nobody 
can  become  influential  in  American  politics. 
They  show  three  characteristically  different 
types  of  self -consciousness :  that  of  Wilson 
is  lyric,  that  of  Eoosevelt  dramatic,  that  of 
Hughes  epic.  Wilson  is  always  contemplat- 
ing; he  settles  the  problems  for  himself  by 
finding  a  well-balanced  formulation;  he  re- 
flects on  his  own  feelings;  he  likes  to  speak 
about  his  mental  pains,  his  joys,  his  moods. 
His  aim  is  social  peace,  international  peace, 
harmony,  and  that  is  beauty.  Eoosevelt 
aims  toward  quick  and  surprising  action ;  his 
thought  is  potential  energy;  his  life  element 
is  the  conflict  with  beasts  or  with  men,  with 
parties  or  with  nations.  Hughes  aims  to- 
ward the  earnest  fulfillment  of  tasks  per- 
sistently carried  through  against  difficulties. 
Neither  the  feelings  nor  the  impulses  to  ac- 
tion are  paramount  in  him,  but  the  deliberate 
decisions  of  the  mind. 
162 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

This  difference  of  lyric,  dramatic  and  epic 
tendency  shows  itself  no  less  in  their  stand 
toward  the  public.  Wilson  wants  to  be  seen 
and  heard;  it  is  not  chance  that  he  was  the 
first  for  a  century  to  deliver  the  presidential 
message  to  Congress  in  person.  It  is  the 
wish  for  the  esthetic  attitude.  He  reaches 
his  greatest  strength  when  he  feels  himself 
on  the  stage  with  the  public  in  his  spell. 
When  politicians  in  Germany  asked  me 
whether  Wilson  as  international  peacemaker 
would  not  be  a  partial  arbiter,  swayed  by  his 
natural  sympathy  for  the  land  of  his  British 
ancestors,  I  wrote  to  them  at  once  that  his 
deepest  trait,  the  desire  for  esthetic  unity, 
ought  to  exclude  such  a  fear :  he  would  enter 
so  fully  into  the"  role  of  world  arbiter  that 
all  personal  prejudices  would  be  entirely  in- 
hibited. The  lyric  mind  sinks  completely  into 
the  role  to  be  played :  no  mind  dominated  by 
will  and  none  dominated  by  thought  could 
make  such  an  ideal  world  mediator  as  one 
controlled  by  esthetic  feeling.  The  usual  im- 
pression, of  course,  is  that  not  Wilson  but 
Roosevelt  is  the  man  who  seeks  the  lime- 
light; but  in  reality  Roosevelt's  attitude  is 
quite  different.  He  is  not  the  actor  whose 
163 


TOMORROW 

mind  needs  the  stimulus  of  being  seen,  of 
being  the  center  of  tense  observation ;  his  ex- 
altation comes  from  feeling  himself  the 
leader.  He  too  needs  the  masses,  but  in  order 
to  push  them  forward  by  his  dramatic  tem- 
perament. He  is  always  the  colonel  who 
charges  the  hill,  conscious  that  the  cowboys 
follow.  His  joy  has  nothing  to  do  with  the 
impression  he  makes  but  all  with  the  im- 
pulse which  he  stirs  up  in  others.  Both  Wil- 
son and  Eoosevelt  long  for  the  public,  as 
both  must  be  in  the  center  in  order  to  give 
their  best.  But  the  chief  irradiation  is  cen- 
tripetal in  Wilson's  case  and  centrifugal  in 
Koosevelt's  case.  The  strength  of  Hughes 
lies  in  his  conscious  independence  of  the 
audience.  Every  true  epic  hero  stands  alone. 
A  lyric  mind  needs  the  admiring  approval  of 
its  followers ;  a  dramatic  mind  needs  the  pow- 
erful effect  on  them ;  the  epic  mind  distrusts 
both  the  praise  and  the  hypnotic  faith  and 
prefers  the  coolness  of  a  sober  routine  rela- 
tion. Real  opposition  makes  the  lyric  tem- 
perament nervous,  the  dramatic  angry,  but 
the  epic  strong.  Yet,  however  different  the 
self-consciousness  of  the  three  leaders,  all 
three  stand  high  above  the  trivial  campaign 

164 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

accusations  and  all  three  are  sincere  and 
loyal  believers  in  the  new  idealism.  The 
time  which  is  to  come  speaks  forcefully 
through  each  of  them. 

America  does  not  lack  impressive  defend- 
ers for  the  ideals  of  the  past  generation. 
Charles  W.  Eliot  is  their  leader;  but  just  as 
his  educational  freedom,  the  free  election  of 
studies,  has  been  abandoned  and  is  rejected 
today  by  every  single  college  in  the  land,  so 
his  political  and  economic  freedom  is  repudi- 
ated by  the  spirit  of  the  new  time.  The  real 
public  spokesmen  of  the  nation,  Eepublican, 
Democratic,  and  Progressive,  acknowledge 
only  a  freedom  which  involves  duty,  a  rivalry 
which  is  restrained  by  over-personal  ideals 
of  social  justice,  a  government  which  is  not 
the  servant  of  individual  interests  but  the 
representative  of  the  whole  nation  as  such,  of 
its  honor  and  strength  and  social  progress. 
No  individual  initiative  will  be  curbed,  but 
the  central  thought  of  the  new  America  is 
loyalty,  obligation,  service.  The  flag  has  be- 
come the  symbol  of  a  state  which  is  more 
than  the  mere  sum  of  the  individuals  who 
pay  taxes.  The  new  idealism  has  its  char- 
acteristic American  features,  but  it  is  the 
165 


TOMORROW 

same  new  idealism  which  brought  Germany 
its  recent  development  and  which  has  now 
taken  hold  of  all  Europe :  it  is  the  new  world 
view  of  that  new  world  which  will  arise  from 
the  war. 

But  here  too,  as  in  Europe,  service  to  the 
will  of  the  organized  community  is  not  bound 
up  with  the  single  nation.  The  idea  of  sub- 
ordination to  the  will  of  the  unified  group 
must  remain  in  force  when  the  organized 
community  grows  beyond  the  state  and  be- 
comes an  alliance  of  nations.  Hence  the  new 
idealism,  however  much  it  was  originally 
connected  with  nationalism  and  military  pre- 
paredness, that  is,  with  the  rivalry  and  strug- 
gle of  nations,  is  no  less  in  harmony  with 
the  ideal  of  international  friendship  and  or- 
ganization. The  new  idealism  could  be 
turned  the  more  earnestly  toward  its  highest 
goals  if  the  will  which  demands  service  were 
not  only  that  of  the  isolated  nation  but  also 
that  of  civilized  mankind.  The  new  idealism 
may  have  started  from  the  growing  nation- 
alism, but  it  presses  toward  internationalism 
and  through  it  toward  peace.  The  old  senti- 
mental pacificism  is  probably  discarded  for 
the  near  future,  but  the  new  sober  pacificism, 
166 


IDEALISM  IN  AMERICA 

rooted  in  idealism  and  international  organi- 
zation, will  surely  be  as  much  the  symbol  of 
tomorrow  as  the  radiant  nationalism.  Per- 
haps it  was  unfair  when  I  spoke  only  of  Wil- 
son, Hughes,  and  Roosevelt  as  the  political 
leaders  of  America  today;  I  ought  to  have 
added  Bryan,  the  fanatic  of  pacificism  based 
on  treaties. 

The  newspapers  never  believe  in  Bryan's 
unselfishness  and  when  in  St.  Louis  he  turned 
enthusiastically  to  Wilson's  support,  they 
asked  indiscreetly  for  what  position  he  hoped 
in  case  of  Wilson's  victory,  as  he  must  know 
that  he  could  not  again  be  Secretary  of 
State.  I  think  the  position  which  he  would 
wish  to  fill  is  that  of  ambassador  to  Ger- 
many, where  he  would  feel  sure  of  a  hearty 
welcome  on  account  of  his  courageous  rad- 
ically neutral  stand  during  the  war.  He 
might  possibly  be  the  funniest  ambassador 
but  at  the  same  time  probably  one  of  the 
most  effective.  Social  Berlin  would  be  in 
convulsions  over  the  cultural  teetotaler,  and 
at  every  dinner  table  they  would  tell  near- 
true  amusing  stories  about  his  naivete;  but 
Berlin  would  discover  in  him  a  faith  in  peace 
and  a  power  for  good  which  might  stir 
167 


TOMORROW 

Europe  like  a  revelation — the  "  guileless 
fool"  in  Klingsor's  magic  garden.  He  would 
truly  be  a  representative  of  the  American 
nation,  because  the  new  pacificism  will  be  an 
organic  part  of  the  new  America.  Will  it  be 
a  part  of  the  new  Europe  too?  It  sounds 
almost  frivolous  to  speak  of  organized  peace 
in  Europe  while  the  headlines  report  today 
that  the  greatest  battle  of  the  world's  his- 
tory, truly  the  battle  of  Europe,  is  at  its 
height;  and  yet,  in  time  of  war  prepare  for 
peace.  Indeed,  I  should  not  fulfill  the  task 
which  you  have  set  before  me  if  I  were  not 
to  speak  of  the  new  movements  toward  last- 
ing peace.  Let  it  be  the  topic  of  my  next 
letter ;  but  I  confess  I  should  like  much  more 
to  hear  from  you  what  you  think  about  the 
present  prospect  of  peace.  It  is  so  difficult 
to  remember  how  it  felt  to  live  in  the  time 
before  the  war — how  long  will  the  unbear- 
able last! 

Yours  ever, 
H.M. 


VII 
THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND  : 

Have  you  ever  noticed  that  the  Bible  con- 
tains a  saying  which  in  the  two  most  famous 
translations,  the  Luther  version  and  the  King 
James  version,  has  a  directly  opposite  mean- 
ing? In  the  fortieth  psalm  we  Germans  read 
the  beautiful  words :  "Und  wenn  es  kostlich 
gewesen,  so  ist  es  Miihe  und  Arbeit  ge- 
wesen;"  the  English-speaking  world  reads: 
''And  if  by  reason  of  strength  they  be  four- 
score years,  yet  is  their  strength  labor  and 
sorrow. ' '  The  meaning  of  the  English  trans- 
lation is :  Even  at  its  best  life  is  filled  with 
labor  and  sorrow  and  therefore  filled  with 
that  which  we  should  like  to  avoid.  The 
meaning  of  the  German  translation  is:  Life 
is  truly  beautiful  only  if  it  is  filled  with  labor 
and  toil.  The  two  translators  have  given  to 
the  words  of  the  psalmist  quite  different 
169 


TOMORROW 

meaning :  The  one  sees  in  labor  the  crown  of 
life,  the  other  sees  in  it  the  thorn  of  life.  The 
history  of  mankind  is  also  a  gigantic  psalm 
and  may  be  differently  translated.  This 
psalm  speaks  of  human  wars,  and  the  one 
translates  it  to  read:  Every  nation's  life  is 
glorious  if  it  is  filled  with  wars;  the  other 
translates  it:  Every  nation's  life  is  filled  with 
wars  and  therefore  lamentable.  The  trans- 
lations have  disagreed  for  thousands  of 
years.  Again  and  again  one  sees  in  war  the 
thorn  of  national  life  and  the  other  the  crown 
of  national  life.  Will  it  ever  be  settled  which 
translation  is  right?  In  any  case  the  vehe- 
ment discussions  of  recent  days — mostly  car- 
ried on  with  the  naive  belief  that  the  pacifi  stic 
movements  of  today  are  an  original  contri- 
bution of  our  century — have  done  little  to 
overcome  the  contradictions  of  old. 

Wars  are  evil,  are  destructive,  are  im- 
moral, are  ruinous,  are  always  avoidable — 
wars  are  heroic,  are  inspiring,  are  progres- 
sive, are  necessary.  We  have  not  moved 
much  beyond  this  old  antithesis.  It  is  true 
we  carry  on  the  discussions  of  today  with 
quite  new-fashioned  biological  conceptions, 
but  they  too  serve  both  sides.  In  war  the 
170 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

strong  men  go  to  the  battle  and  are  killed, 
while  the  weak  stay  at  home  and  survive. 
Hence  the  biological  argument  speaks  against 
war.  But  the  opposite  is  true,  if  the  whole 
battling  tribes  or  nations  are  considered. 
The  weak,  the  degenerate  and  the  decaying 
social  groups  are  destroyed  in  the  fight  and 
the  strong  and  healthy  ones  enlarge  their 
power  and  their  traits  survive.  Hence  war 
is  the  means  of  the  biological  regeneration  of 
mankind.  Nowadays,  moreover,  the  Ameri- 
can pacifists  use  their  biology  to  tell  us  that 
the  war  spirit  is  a  remnant  of  the  aggressive 
instinct  in  animals.  The  other  side  answers, 
of  course,  that  dislike  of  war  starts  from  the 
animal  instinct  of  hiding;  pacifism,  we  hear, 
is  self-abasement.  In  reality  no  light  is 
thrown  on  the  value  of  either  side  by  show- 
ing that  a  type  of  action  can  be  traced  back 
to  animal  instincts;  nothing  is  great  in  our 
life  which  has  not  its  counterpart  in  low  be- 
ginnings. We  ought  rather  to  measure  our 
social  functions  by  the  scale  of  ideal  values ; 
and  yet  even  this  does  not  bring  us  nearer 
to  a  decision.  The  mind  which  seeks  peace 
and  avoids  conflict  loyally  serves  the  ideal  of 
harmony  and  unity,  a  distinctly  esthetic 
171 


TOMORROW 

ideal :  the  mind  which  is  ready  to  make  sacri- 
fices for  the  maintaining  of  its  rights  in  con- 
flict serves  no  less  loyally  the  ideal  of  justice, 
an  ethical  ideal. 

A  slightly  modern  turn  is  also  brought  into 
the  discussion  by  the  claim  that  wars  are 
stirred  up  by  the  selfish  interests  of  diplomats 
or  of  great  capitalists  or  of  munition  manu- 
facturers, all  of  whom  seek  advantage,  glory, 
profit  for  themselves,  without  regard  for  the 
interests  of  the  masses.  But  it  is  surely  no 
less  adapted  to  the  modern  world  when  the 
other  side  insists  that  in  our  period  of  the 
newspaper  and  the  wire  every  movement  is  a 
movement  of  the  nation  as  a  whole  and  that 
modern  wars  can  be  conducted  only  if  the 
whole  people  stands  behind  the  leaders.  The 
masses  are  more  excitable  than  the  men  in  re- 
sponsible places;  in  the  days  of  the  million- 
fold  circulation  of  the  news  carriers,  war  has 
become  the  most  democratic  institution.  On 
economic  ground  at  least  we  now  know  with 
certainty  that  war  never  pays,  as  a  whole  lit- 
erature has  told  us  with  ample  statistics; 
and  at  the  same  time  that  a  victorious  war 
always  pays,  as  no  less  bulky  statistics  have 
proved.  Culturally  the  legions  of  war  trample 
172 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

down  the  harvest  of  intellectual  and  artistic 
and  social  seed.  But  must  not  the  historian 
add  that  all  the  great  periods  of  truly  flour- 
ishing national  culture,  those  which  have  in- 
spired the  world  forever,  have  always  fol- 
lowed the  triumphs  of  war.  Even  in  the  in- 
dividual minds  the  effects  of  war  may  show 
this  contrast.  Hatred,  cruelty,  brutality, 
calumny,  may  devastate  the  hearts ;  and  yet  it 
is  a  time  in  which  the  spirit  of  self-sacrifice, 
of  heroism,  of  abstinence,  of  energy,  of  pa- 
triotism, overwhelms  every  selfish  and  vicious 
and  luxurious  impulse. 

The  historians  do  not  even  seem  to  agree 
as  to  the  actual  result,  when  the  increase  of 
power  for  the  victor  is  estimated.  Empires 
have  been  built  by  conquest  as  glorious  wit- 
nesses of  the  success  of  war;  but  no  empire 
in  the  world  has  really  lasted,  and  their  decay 
always  began  with  the  dissatisfaction  of  con- 
quered lands,  an  evidence  of  the  failure  of 
war.  Even  when  this  world  war  began,  the 
opponents  of  pacifism  were  quick  in  claiming 
that  the  futility  of  all  peace  movements  had 
now  been  definitely  proved,  as  never  before 
had  such  a  well-prepared  framework  for 
peace  been  built  up  as  The  Hague  conferences 
173 


TOMORROW 

and  The  Hague  tribunal ;  and  yet  they  were 
immediately  followed  by  the  most  bloody  con- 
flict of  all  times.  But  it  is  surely  no  less  true 
that  the  outbreak  of  this  war  can  be  con- 
strued as  a  most  gigantic  proof  of  the  neces- 
sity of  pacifism  and  as  a  demonstration  of 
the  complete  failure  of  the  old  system  which 
relied  on  rivalry  in  armament. 

While  theory  and  speculation  do  not  lead 
us  further,  allowing  on  every  level  arguments 
for  either  side,  it  seems  interesting  to  turn 
to  the  concrete  facts  of  historiometric  science. 
Woods  and  Baltzley  recently  published  here 
a  brilliant  little  book  "Is  War  Diminishing?" 
a  study  of  the  prevalence  of  war  in  Europe 
from  medieval  times  to  the  present  date. 
They  measured  exactly  the  length  of  time 
which  each  European  nation  has  spent  in 
warfare  in  the  various  historic  periods.  Take 
the  figures  for  England.  From  the  year  1100 
to  1900  the  sixteen  half-centuries  showed  the 
following  numbers  of  war  years :  38,  16,  19, 
17,  39.5,  25.5,  38,  19,  16,  38.5,  17.5,  26, 
29,  26.5,  26,  27.5;  all  together  between  1100 
and  1500,  212  war  years,  and  between  1500 
and  1900,  207  war  years.  For  France  the 
same  figures  are:  26.5,  10,  31.5,  17.5,  18,  25, 
174 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

35.5,  17,  29.5,  31,  24,  22.5,  25,  25.5,  18,  17;  al- 
together for  the  first  four  centuries  181  and 
for  the  second  four  centuries  192.5  war  years : 
"Is  war  diminishing?"  We  are  indeed 
hardly  aware  that  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Vic- 
toria alone  England  had  29  different  wars.  In 
Russia  the  sixteenth  century  showed  78.5  war 
years,  the  seventeenth  57.5,  the  eighteenth 
49.5,  the  nineteenth  53.  Only  in  the  small 
states  like  Denmark,  Holland  and  Sweden  are 
the  war  periods  distinctly  growing  shorter 
and  shorter ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  Prussia, 
for  which  the  table  shows  that  in  the  seven- 
teenth century  it  had  58.5  years  of  war,  in 
the  eighteenth  31,  in  the  nineteenth  only  13. 
The  broad  result  of  the  book  is  that  when 
the  five  strong  powers,  England,  France, 
Prussia,  Russia  and  Austria,  are  separated 
from  the  five  lesser  powers,  Turkey,  Spain, 
Holland,  Denmark  and  Sweden,  it  becomes 
evident  that  the  stronger  nations  since  1700 
have  devoted  the  most  time  to  war.  But  the 
lesser  nations  were  once  the  great  powers; 
Spain,  Turkey,  Holland  and  Sweden  were 
active  in  warfare  at  the  same  period  that  they 
were  politically  great. 

Truly  such  neglected  figures  ought  to  make 
175 


TOMORROW 

us  distrustful  when  well-meaning  people  rec- 
ommend some  new  prescription  by  which  war 
will  be  abolished  from  the  next  first  of  July 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Neverthe- 
less we  pacifists  ought  not  to  feel  discour- 
aged, because  it  cannot  be  denied  that  certain 
elements  of  our  time  are  new  and  do  change 
the  standing  of  peace  and  war.  The  inter- 
dependence of  the  nations  has  been  most 
deeply  influenced  by  the  economic  develop- 
ment of  the  last  half-century.  It  is  this 
change  in  the  material  conditions  first  of  all 
which  suggests  that  serious  efforts  toward 
world  peace  may  be  in  the  future  more  suc- 
cessful than  the  record  of  history  alone  would 
allow  us  to  expect.  But  to  make  such  efforts 
really  effective,  we  ought  at  least  to  learn 
the  lessons  of  this  war  and  ought  not  to 
indulge  again  in  illusions  which  the  last  two 
years  should  have  dispelled.  When  the  war 
is  over  the  militarists  of  all  nations  will 
write  whole  libraries  about  the  lessons  of 
the  war,  analyzing  every  success  and  every 
failure  of  the  armies  and  navies.  But  we 
men  of  peace  have  still  greater  interest  in 
looking  on  the  war  as  an  inexhaustible 
source  of  information.  We  need  not  wait 
176 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

until  it  all  has  passed  into  history.  For 
the  first  lesson  I  should  pick  out  at  least  ten 
pretty  clear  facts  which  even  the  elementary 
pupil  ought  not  to  forget.  Other  lessons, 
with  some  scores  of  similar  facts,  will  sug- 
gest themselves  later.  But  these  are  the  ten 
with  which  I  should  start. 

First:  There  is  no  peace  loving  nation 
which  has  not  some  subconscious  love  for  war 
too.  Since  the  beginning  of  the  century  the 
will  toward  unbroken  peace  in  the  world  had 
expressed  itself  so  loudly  in  these  United 
States  that  it  could  not  fail  highly  to  raise 
our  hopes.  While  Europe  went  on  with  its 
jealousies  and  its  war  preparations  we  saw 
here  at  least  one  great  nation  on  earth  which 
seemed  resolved  to  use  peaceful  means  in  any 
possible  case  of  friction.  How  bitter  was  the 
irony  used  against  the  antiquated  navalism 
and  militarism  of  decrepit  Europe!  In  one 
night  the  weather  has  changed  all  over  the 
land.  Suddenly  no  sarcasm  of  the  comic 
papers,  no  abuse  in  the  editorials,  was  so 
sharp  as  that  which  turned  against  the  man 
of  peace  at  any  price.  Whether  the  enemy 
was  to  be  Germany  or  Mexico  or  Japan,  the 
makers  of  public  opinion  behaved  as  if  the 
177 


TOMORROW 

peace  sermons  of  the  last  decade  had  been 
only  rhetorical  exercises  to  fill  the  time  until 
the  troops  should  march  to  some  border.  A 
regular  war  hysteria  came  over  the  suggest- 
ible parts  of  the  community,  and  in  the  Car- 
negie camps  the  tents  were  folded  and  packed 
away.  To  stand  for  peace  at  any  price  ap- 
peared the  meanest  mental  behavior ;  and  yet 
what  else  was  demanded  from  us  in  all  those 
homilies  of  the  past  against  bellicose  Europe  ? 
Every  nation  of  the  Old  World  was  certainly 
ready  to  pay  some  price  and  even  a  very  high 
price  to  keep  peace.  If  anything  different  had 
been  intended  by  America,  it  would  indeed 
have  meant  not  to  be  ready  only  for  a  high 
price  but  for  any  price  short  of  self-destruc- 
tion. After  this  year  of  America's  rattling 
the  saber,  no  hope  is  left  that  we  pacifists 
could  rely  on  the  temperament  of  any  single 
large  nation.  We  might  still  put  our  hope  on 
China,  but  her  case  does  not  seem  inspiring. 
It  is  true  the  Chinese  would  avoid  war  if 
they  possibly  could,  not  because  they  love 
peace  better,  but  because  the  traditions  re- 
sulting from  the  poverty  of  the  land  have  led 
to  such  individual  egotism  that  few  want  to 
exert  themselves  for  the  good  of  the  commu- 

178 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

nity.  That  will  not  help  us ;  after  the  Ameri- 
can outbreak  we  must  be  resigned  to  the  con- 
viction that  in  the  heart  of  every  nation  one 
ventricle  beats  for  peace,  but  the  other  for 
the  " wretchedness"  of  old-fashioned  war. 

Second:  There  are  no  really  effective 
safety  appliances  invented  as  yet.  We  have 
heard  so  much  about  all  the  factors  which 
even  in  a  war  craze  would  make  actual  war 
impossible.  The  existence  of  the  pacifistic 
societies  and  their  like  was,  after  all,  only 
one  thread  in  the  tapestry  of  our  hopes.  Did 
we  not  know  that  the  Socialists  of  Europe 
would  simply  prohibit  war?  The  interna- 
tionalism of  organized  labor  would  prove 
stronger  than  the  recklessness  of  govern- 
ments. They  would  have  had  the  power,  but 
they  lacked  the  will;  they  proved  patriots 
above  everything  else.  How  often  had  we 
read  the  boast  that  the  internationalism  of 
high  finance  would  stop  any  onrush  to  war! 
Those  great  bankers  are  famous  prophets; 
they  must  have  foreseen  that  fifty  billion  dol- 
lars would  be  needed  to  feed  the  Moloch.  Of 
course,  the  most  highly  praised  safety  de- 
vice was  the  armament  itself;  Europe  was 
armed  to  the  teeth.  "When  the  hour  of  danger 
179 


TOMORROW 

approached  the  efficiency  of  the  armor  did  not 
delay  but  hastened  the  clash.  If  the  military 
preparation  had  been  less  perfect  on  all  sides 
some  further  days  might  have  been  allowed 
to  diplomacy.  But  each  nation  knew  that 
with  the  superarmament  of  today  twelve 
hours  more  time  for  the  secret  mobilization 
of  the  enemy  might  have  the  value  of  whole 
army  corps.  Some  had  put  their  pacifistic 
hope  on  the  women.  In  no  land  are  the 
women  more  influential  than  in  America,  It 
is  a  sad  chapter:  If  America  keeps  out  of 
war,  it  is  surely  not  the  merit  of  the  weaker 
sex.  The  pacifists,  the  Socialists,  the  women 
and  even  the  priests  have  failed  to  serve  as 
brakes  on  the  downhill  road. 

Third:  There  is  no  treaty  among  nations 
which  is  binding  under  all  circumstances. 
Some  recent  statistics  showed  that  during 
this  war  sixty  definite  treaties  have  been 
broken,  but  only  the  more  important  cases 
were  registered  in  their  columns.  Not  one  of 
the  fourteen  belligerent  nations  had  missed 
its  opportunities.  Of  course,  this  was  no  sur- 
prise to  the  student  of  history;  it  has  been 
so  at  all  times  and  in  every  corner  of  the 
globe.  It  is  surely  not  lawlessness.  The  po- 
180 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

litical  conditions  of  the  world  are  shifting 
all  the  time  and  the  treaty  of  today  may  con- 
flict tomorrow  with  a  higher  obligation  which 
has  grown  up  in  the  meantime.  Here  in 
America  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  has  clearly  acknowledged  this  right  of 
the  nations  to  break  their  own  treaties  when 
political  necessities  demand  it.  The  Supreme 
Court  proclaimed  "that  circumstances  may 
arise  which  would  not  only  justify  the  gov- 
ernment in  disregard  of  their  obligations  but 
demand  in  the  interests  of  the  country  that 
it  should  do  so.  Unexpected  events  may  call 
for  a  change  in  the  policy  of  the  country." 
It  stamps  it  as  the  American  idea  of  inter- 
national law  '  *  that  whilst  it  would  always  be 
a  matter  of  the  utmost  gravity  and  delicacy 
to  refuse  to  execute  a  treaty,  the  power  to  do 
so  was  the  prerogative  of  which  no  nation 
could  be  deprived  without  deeply  affecting  its 
independence."  But  while  treaty  breaking 
may  be  forced  on  a  nation  by  a  change  of  cir- 
cumstances, no  Supreme  Court  would  justify 
a  neutral  nation  in  protesting  violently 
against  such  breaches  by  one  belligerent  na- 
tion and  condoning  the  breaches  by  the  other. 
Fourth:  There  is  no  debatable  question 
181 


TOMORROW 

among  nations  which  cannot  be  transformed 
into  a  matter  of  honor.  You  remember  in 
our  student  days  we  had  always  with  us  that 
type  of  blusterer  who  went  around  looking 
for  pretexts  for  student  duels.  He  kept  find- 
ing people  who  had  violated  his  honor.  Of 
course  for  him  it  was  simply  a  part  of  the 
sport.  Newspaper  discussions  about  honor 
in  times  of  tension  may  sink  to  this  level  at 
any  time.  Purely  technical  points  of  dis- 
agreement are  bolstered  up  into  disputes 
involving  the  honor  of  the  country.  When 
America  and  Germany  disagreed  as  to  the 
permissible  armament  of  a  merchantman, 
every  long  metropolitan  editorial  intertwined 
the  number  of  inches  allowed  to  the  guns  for 
defense  with  the  highest  honor  of  the  United 
States.  As  soon  as  the  national  honor  is 
struck,  the  chance  for  arbitration  is  lost. 
What  loyal  citizen  could  allow  others  to  de- 
cide where  his  country's  honor  is  at  stake! 
It  is  that  unreasonable  kind  of  national  rea- 
soning which  deprives  the  best  planned  arbi- 
tration schemes  of  their  value  at  the  decisive 
moment. 

Fifth:   There  is  no  event  which  cannot  be 
looked  on  from  opposing  standpoints  and 
182 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

which  may  not  appear  accordingly  in  an  en- 
tirely different  light  to  equally  honest  and 
sincere  observers.  The  most  harmless  affairs 
were  swollen  up  by  the  one  and  made  to 
shrink  by  the  other,  sympathies  and  antipa- 
thies played  havoc  with  the  facts,  and  where 
decisions  were  to  be  made  the  partisan  wishes 
molded  every  happening.  Even  the  same 
story  can  have  a  happy  ending  today  and  a 
sad  close  tomorrow,  if  it  conflicts  with  na- 
tional prejudices.  When  America  took  the 
stand  that  a  German  submarine  cannot  tor- 
pedo an  armed  merchantman  because  inter- 
national law  prescribes  visit  and  search,  Ger- 
many protested.  Germany  claimed  that  there 
was  no  international  law  for  submarines  as 
yet  and  that  the  old  rules  which  were  made 
for  ships  of  entirely  different  type  could  not 
hold  for  these  fragile  vessels  which  could  be 
destroyed  by  one  shot  from  the  enemy.  At 
once  the  anti-German  press  here  howled  down 
the  German  idea.  Surely  the  old  rules  of  the 
game  must  hold  for  the  new  type  of  ship.  A 
little  later  Germany  sent  here  an  unarmed 
merchant  submarine,  expecting  that  the  en- 
emy would  have  to  treat  it  like  a  merchant 
ship  and  could  not  destroy  it  without  visit  and 
183 


TOMORROW 

search.  Forthwith  the  same  papers  shouted 
against  the  German  pretensions.  Surely  the 
old  rules  of  the  game  could  not  hold  if  an 
entirely  new  form  of  ship  is  invented;  the 
Allies  must  have  the  right  to  fire  at  the  sub- 
marine as  soon  as  they  sight  it.  Our  whole 
headline  misery  has  been  caused  by  this  con- 
stant double  play.  After  all,  there  is  light 
and  shade  everywhere.  If  you  insist  on  see- 
ing only  the  one  and  ignoring  the  other,  you 
can  undo  any  honest  endeavors.  It  is,  of 
course,  the  way  in  which  politics  is  carried 
on  everywhere.  At  Carrizal  the  Mexicans 
killed  Americans,  but  under  pressure  re- 
turned the  prisoners.  If  you  want  to  have 
peace  with  Mexico,  you  never  mention  the 
dead,  but  make  fine  editorials  about  the  re- 
turned captives :  if  you  prefer  to  push  toward 
war,  forget  the  prisoners  and  shout  yourself 
hoarse  about  those  who  have  fallen.  All 
this  may  be  right  and  necessary ;  only  we  for- 
get it  too  easily.  The  last  two  years  have 
shown  it  to  us  three  times  a  day  so  glar- 
ingly that  we  shall  remember  it  better  when 
we  plan  the  peace  of  the  future. 

Sixth:    There  is  no  historic  grouping  of 
nations  which  may  not  be  regrouped  at  the 

184 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

next  turn.  How  bitter  had  been  the  enmity 
between  Eussia  and  Japan,  and  today  they 
are  the  most  intimate  friends.  Eussia  and 
Bulgaria  were  most  cordial  allies,  and  are 
today  the  keenest  opponents.  Italy  has  de- 
serted its  allies  of  thirty  years,  Turkey  has 
joined  Austria,  England  has  clasped  hands 
with  its  arch-enemy  Eussia,  the  Boers  have 
proved  that  they  are  now  entirely  in  harmony 
with  England.  Neither  race  nor  language 
nor  religion  nor  form  of  government  can 
make  the  ties  binding  when  the  interests  push 
in  different  directions,  or  can  hinder  alliances 
when  they  promise  advantages  on  the  way  to 
the  nearest  goal.  Later,  when  peace  comes,  I 
shall  send  you  my  collection  of  New  England 
writings  with  their  republican  enthusiasm  for 
the  government  of  the  czar  and  their  enlight- 
ened admiration  for  the  civilization  of  Eus- 
sia as  against  the  pseudo-culture  of  savage 
Germany.  In  internal  politics  we  knew  that 
always,  and  in  every  land,  elections  make 
strange  bedfellows,  but  now  we  must  surely 
keep  in  mind  what  queer  combinations  and 
separations  may  develop  in  world  war  times. 
Seventh:  There  are  no  single-minded  re- 
lations between  two  peoples.  The  statesmen 
185 


TOMORROW 

and  the  editors  and  the  gossipers  all  alike 
have  always  been  satisfied  with  too  simple  a 
psychology.  I  do  not  mean  that  serious  poli- 
ticians overlooked  the  fact  that  there  are  dif- 
ferent parties  and  different  groups  in  every 
nation  and  that  while  one  party  may  seek 
friendship  with  a  neighbor  another  party 
may  plead  for  the  opposite  policy.  Specula- 
tions about  such  favorable  and  unfavorable 
groups  have  always  been  the  chief  part  of 
the  game.  But  what  they  did  neglect  is  the 
complexity  of  motives  in  the  midst  of  every 
group  and  of  every  individual.  They  were 
satisfied  with  the  kind  of  psychology  which 
we  know  from  most  photoplays  of  the  mov- 
ing picture  theaters.  These  film  dramas 
show  us  only  men  who  say  yes  or  n®.  The 
routine  politician,  to  be  sure,  is  sometimes 
suspicious  and  takes  it  for  granted,  espe- 
cially if  he  deals  with  diplomats,  that  the 
other  man  may  think  yes  and  say  no  or  think 
no  and  say  yes.  But  far  more  important  is 
a  yes  and  a  no  which  intertwine  in  the  mind. 
Like  and  dislike,  approval  and  disapproval, 
friendship  and  enmity,  are  consciously  and 
subconsciously  mixed.  Friends  may  be  loyal 
friends  and  yet  a  certain  suspicion  may  linger 
186 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

in  their  souls;  statesmen  may  have  the  best 
will  toward  each  other,  and  nevertheless  be 
internally  prepared  for  a  break;  govern- 
ments may  be  quite  frank  in  their  mutual  pro- 
fessions of  cordiality  and  at  the  same  time 
foresee  that  the  next  turn  of  the  road  may 
make  them  opponents ;  whole  nations  may  be 
sincere  allies  and  no  less  sincere  rivals,  full 
of  distrust  and  yet  full  of  sympathy.  Minds 
of  men  and  of  peoples  are  never  pulled  by 
one  wire  only.  If  the  official  and  unofficial 
diplomats  of  the  world  had  psychologized  a 
little  more  they  would  have  experienced 
fewer  surprises  and  fewer  disappointments. 
Even  the  question  at  the  threshold  as  to  who 
wanted  the  war  would  not  have  brought  for- 
ward such  an  abundance  of  rage  and  excite- 
ment. Everybody  hoped  most  earnestly  to 
avoid  the  horrible  carnage,  and  yet  every- 
body felt  that  the  rivalry  and  ill  will  in 
Europe  had  reached  a  danger  point  at  which 
an  explosion  would  be  necessary  and  that 
only  force  could  end  the  intolerable  oppres- 
sion that  choked  the  world.  The  govern- 
ments did  not  want  war  and  yet  subcon- 
sciously wanted  it. 

Eighth:    There  is  no  state  form,  no  gov- 
187 


eminent,  no  constitution,  which  tends  more 
toward  the  prevention  of  war  than  any  other. 
In  democratic  England  the  secret  agree- 
ments of  Viscount  Grey,  of  which  even  most 
other  members  of  the  Cabinet  were  unaware, 
had  more  autocratic  stamp  than  the  policies 
of  Russia.  The  republic  of  Portugal  had  less 
power  of  resistance  when  England  called 
than  the  kingdom  of  Greece.  The  monarch  of 
Italy  was  forced  to  yield  at  once  to  the  fan- 
atic pan-Roman  wing  of  his  people :  the  king 
of  Roumania  succeeded  in  checking  the  war 
hysteria  for  two  years.  The  governments  of 
republican  France  and  of  imperial  Germany 
proved  equally  the  expression  of  the  national 
will.  The  only  surprise  for  many  Germans 
was  evidently  that  the  autocratic  power  of 
the  American  president  in  questions  of  war 
is  so  much  greater  than  that  of  the  German 
emperor.  They  had  read  neither  the  great 
book  on  America  which  history  wrote  nor 
the  humble  book  on  America  which  your 
obedient  servant  wrote.  But  I  assure  you 
that  many  Americans  did  not  know  more 
about  it.  The  last  year  has  probably  taught 
them  that  America's  war  or  peace  may  de- 
pend upon  the  president's  meditation  in  soli- 
188 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

tilde.  At  any  moment  he  may  shape  such 
policies  that  the  part  of  Congress  cannot  be 
more  than  a  mere  formality. 

Ninth:  There  are  no  longer  any  romantic 
wars.  The  general  and  his  white  horse  on  the 
hill  with  the  adjutants  galloping  hither  and 
thither  have  been  replaced  by  the  commander 
in  the  study  with  the  telephone  central  sta- 
tion in  his  anteroom.  Lying  for  weeks  in 
muddy  ditches,  being  killed  by  exploding 
mines  or  by  machine  guns,  rushing  against 
entanglements  of  barbed  wire,  fighting  un- 
seen foes  amidst  poisonous  gases  and  liquid 
fire :  it  is  simply  appalling  and  horrible.  The 
fliers  and  submarines  may  kindle  the  imagi- 
nation ;  and  yet  the  real  war  is  a  work  of  the 
organizing  staff  and  of  the  engineers.  Even 
the  genuine  war  correspondent  has  nearly 
disappeared,  and  instead  of  his  sprightliness, 
we  have  the  dreariness  of  the  "military 
expert. "  We  have  not  even  the  comfort  of 
the  thought  that  with  the  unromantie  scien- 
tific management  of  warfare  at  least  the  per- 
sonal suffering  of  the  participants  is  de- 
creased. The  belligerent  considers  it  his  aim 
to  make  the  enemy  unable  to  fight,  but  not 
to  make  him  suffer.  Yet  in  spite  of  the  Bed 
189 


TOMORROW 

Cross,  no  war  in  man's  memory  has  brought 
such  manifold  pain  and  misery  and  tor- 
ment. 

Tenth:  There  is  no  war  which  does  not 
enrich  many  people.  Few  lessons  of  the  last 
two  years  are  so  worthy  of  being  kept  well 
in  memory;  not  because  the  fact  is  so  in- 
spiring, but  because  it  explains  so  much  and 
may  help  to  direct  the  searchlight  to  many 
dark  regions  where  selfish  war  agitation  is 
busy.  Holland's  and  Sweden's  profits  from 
the  war  have  been  enormous ;  America's  bad 
times  after  the  downward  revision  of  the 
tariff  were  turned  by  the  European  carnage 
into  an  abundant  prosperity;  Boumania's 
profitable  shrewdness  seems  to  have  sur- 
prised all.  But  still  more  unpleasant  is  the 
stream  of  gold  to  single  corporations  and  in- 
dividuals in  all  the  belligerent  lands.  It 
seems  unavoidable  that  everywhere  while  a 
hundred  fellow-countrymen  bleed  the  hun- 
dred and  first  gathers  riches.  And  worst  of 
all  such  a  war  is  the  high  time  of  graft  and 
corruption  in  neutral  lands.  Believe  me,  I 
have  looked  into  abysses  which  made  me 
shudder.  It  can  hardly  be  otherwise :  where 
such  gigantic  interests  are  at  stake,  the  dis^ 
190 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

honest,  who  is  nowhere  absent,  must  find  in- 
comparable chances  for  blackmail. 

I  do  not  care  to  enumerate  today  the  elev- 
enth and  twelfth  and  hundredth  and  thou- 
sandth fact  which  the  war  has  taught  us.  But 
surely  when  we  ask  what  the  future  will  do 
in  the  interest  of  the  new  world-wide  longing 
for  lasting  peace,  we  may  take  it  for  granted 
that  the  teaching  of  the  last  two  years  will 
dominate  all  coming  plans  and  projects.  The 
chief  tendency  which  these  schemes  and  sug- 
gestions will  show  after  the  war  can  be 
traced,  I  think,  even  now.  The  world  around 
you,  my  friend,  is  naturally  so  filled  with 
the  cares  of  the  war  itself  that  project  mak- 
ing for  the  future  is  today  in  the  background. 
But  here  on  so-called  neutral  ground  the 
plans  tumble  over  one  another.  Let  me  be- 
gin with  an  impossible  one.  It  is  hardly  a 
plan.  It  is  a  dream:  the  idea  of  complete 
disarmament  of  the  world.  I  do  not  mean  to 
say  that  such  a  stage  of  the  world  would  be 
impossible  for  all  times.  Mankind  has 
learned  to  live  without  slavery,  which  surely 
seemed  necessary  everywhere  in  earlier 
times.  Why  may  not  the  future  learn  to  live 
without  soldiery?  Even  those  may  be  right 
191 


TOMORROW 

who  prophesy  that  the  technical  overdevelop- 
ment of  the  means  of  armament  will  finally 
lead  to  war 's  self-destruction.  When  science 
makes  it  possible  to  annihilate  not  only  mil- 
lions as  today,  but  hundreds  of  millions,  the 
civilized  world  would  commit  suicide  if  it  con- 
tinued the  martial  sport. 

But  our  question  is  not  what  may  be  prob- 
able after  hundreds  of  years;  we  think  of 
tomorrow.  And  even  if  the  leading  nations 
were  to  agree  whole-heartedly  that  their  ad- 
vance would  be  safer  if  every  thought  and 
every  means  of  forcible  attack  on  one  another 
were  abolished,  the  gun  factories  could  not 
close  their  doors,  as  the  unarmed  nations  of 
highest  culture  would  be  the  easy  prey  of  the 
semicivilized  peoples.  The  power  which 
broke  the  old  Roman  Empire  was  the  un- 
civilized tribes  of  the  northern  forests.  Man- 
kind still  possesses  many  reservoirs  of  fresh 
and  untried  energy.  Armament  of  the  na- 
tions for  physical  protection  will  be  neces- 
sary tomorrow  as  it  was  yesterday.  It  may 
even  be  seriously  doubted  whether  the  much- 
favored  idea  of  partial  disarmament  can  ever 
be  realized.  If  the  great  nations  arm  at  all 
for  purposes  of  war  among  one  another,  it  is 
192 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

illogical  to  demand  from  them  not  to  put 
into  their  preparation  all  their  available 
energies.  As  long  as  fighting  is  going  on 
at  all,  nobody  can  be  expected  to  fight  with 
half  steam  only.  If  all  is  to  be  gained  or  all 
is  to  be  lost,  each  nation  will  demand  the 
freedom  to  make  use  of  all  its  resources. 
Yes,  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  as  long 
as  the  principle  of  preparedness  for  war  is 
accepted  only  those  draw  its  really  logical 
conclusion  who  think  the  more  the  better. 
The  nation  best  protected  by  all  the  means  of 
physical  and  chemical  technic,  by  the  training 
of  armies,  by  the  development  of  miltary  sci- 
ence in  the  staff  and  military  spirit  in  the 
people,  will  be  most  sure  not  to  be  attacked. 
In  short,  we  have  before  us  the  old  plan :  the 
true  means  to  keep  peace  is  to  secure  the 
strongest  possible  defensive  armament. 

Yet  the  world  has  lost  confidence  in  this 
classic  advice.  We  heard  it  a  little  too  often 
just  before  the  greatest  of  all  wars  in  history 
broke  out.  Of  course,  each  nation  may  justly 
say  that  if  it  had  been  less  prepared  the 
enemy  would  today  stand  at  the  gate  of  its 
capital.  And  if  Germany  is  accused  of  hav- 
ing done  its  share  with  the  greatest  thorough- 

193 


TOMORROW 

ness,  the  Germans  can  answer  that  their  mili- 
tary preparedness  secured  peace  for  them 
through  forty-four  years  in  which  every  other 
great  European  nation  went  to  war.  Yet 
Germany  had  to  learn  that  even  the  greatest 
preparedness  of  a  single  nation  will  not  pro- 
tect it  against  hostile  machinations  which 
lead  to  war  if  a  powerful  combination  of 
enemies  can  be  formed.  Moreover  the  tre- 
mendous complexity  of  the  armament  brings 
the  danger  nearer,  as  it  makes  a  delay  in 
the  first  attack  more  dangerous.  Finally  the 
luxury  of  all  such  insurance  against  war  had 
become  from  year  to  year  more  costly. 
Armies  and  navies  were  sapping  the  savings 
of  Europe.  Can  this  mad  race  of  armaments 
be  continued  at  the  billion  rate  after  a  war 
the  debts  for  which  will  have  to  be  paid  by 
two  deplenished  generations? 

The  initial  problem  is,  then,  how  to  fight 
the  armament  fever,  as  long  as  the  principle 
of  armament  remains  in  force.  One  important 
plan  is  certainly  worth  discussing.  It  is  the 
taking  over  of  all  manufacture  of  munitions 
by  the  governments.  This  would  abolish  at 
least  that  unsound  incitement  to  overarma- 
ment  which  results  from  the  chance  for  pri- 

194 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

vate  profit.  Yet  this  would  demand  legisla- 
tion all  over  the  world;  legislation  is  under 
the  influence  of  press  and  lobby;  press  and 
lobby  in  at  least  two-thirds  of  all  nations  are 
accessible  to  golden  arguments,  and  the  steel 
manufacturers  and  munition  makers  can  pro- 
duce a  thousand  times  more  of  this  particu- 
lar kind  of  argument  than  all  the  poor  peace 
apostlesi  together.  Moreover,  the  opponents 
of  the  plan  have  at  least  one  sound  and  rea- 
sonable plea.  If  the  state  manufactures  the 
munitions  for  its  own  use,  in  times  of  peace  it 
will  adjust  its  factories  to  the  modest  needs. 
If  war  conies,  they  cannot  suddenly  be  en- 
larged to  the  vast  dimensions  which  the 
emergency  demands.  Private  enterprises,  on 
the  other  hand,  the  Krupps,  the  Creuzots  and 
their  kin,  can  keep  the  biggest  furnaces  burn- 
ing all  the  time  because  some  countries,  how- 
ever far  away,  will  always  be  in  need  of  their 
supplies.  A  little  compromise  between  the 
factories  and  the  voters  will  probably  be 
cooked  up,  but  a  great  reform  in  the  arma- 
ment situation  will  hardly  be  secured.  The 
true  advance  will  have  to  come  from  within. 
The  policies  of  men  will  have  to  be  changed. 
Their  beliefs  and  emotions,  their  aims  and 
195 


TOMORROW 

their  institutions,  must  be  reformed  in  order 
to  make  their  armaments  more  and  more 
superfluous.  Many  put  their  confidence  in  the 
most  direct  method  of  reaching  this  goal :  we 
must  educate  the  world  toward  a  pacifistic 
view  of  international  relations.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  think  only  of  Chautauqua  meet- 
ings and  women's  clubs  and  peace-dove  pa- 
rades. The  approach  to  the  minds  of  the  na- 
tions may  be  a  much  broader  one.  It  may  be 
started  in  the  schools.  Can  we  deny  that  in 
all  lands  in  which  the  youth  learns  history  at 
all  the  one  great  teaching  is  that  wars  and 
battles  have  been  the  most  important  events 
in  the  world  and  the  men  on  horseback  the 
leaders  of  mankind  1  We  can  tell  the  story  of 
three  thousand  years  with  entirely  different 
high  lights.  Instead  of  tracing  it  from 
Achilles  to  Hindenburg,  we  may  go  from 
Moses  to  Edison  and  Eichard  Strauss. 

But  the  approach  may  be  not  only  broader ; 
it  may  be  deeper.  With  all  the  means  of 
science  and  economics,  of  statistics  and  his- 
tory, of  biology  and  sociology  and  hygiene, 
we  ought  to  underline  the  arguments  against 
war.  Theoretically,  no  doubt,  each  pacifistic 
reason  can  be  answered,  but  if  our  emotional 
196 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

personality  feels  powerfully  drawn  to  the 
side  of  peace  we  ought  to  make  those  anti- 
war arguments  so  resounding  that  they  at 
last  stir  the  popular  imagination.  Then  it 
is  not  a  question  of  objective  truth  but  of 
social  religion.  If  we  are  faithful  believers 
we  are  not  obliged  to  work  as  missionaries 
for  the  truth  of  the  opposing  religion.  Let 
them  continue  to  say  that  war  is  necessary. 
We  know  in  the  depths  of  our  hearts  that 
the  world  needs  peace ;  let  us  therefore  preach 
from  every  pulpit  and  from  every  housetop 
that  the  advantages  of  war  are  illusions,  that 
war  only  breaks  down  and  never  builds  up, 
that  war  hinders  progress,  that  war  has  be- 
come superfluous,  that  people  who  believe  in 
justice  will  never  again  have  wars. 

Such  a  religion,  however,  demands  its 
churches  and  its  priests,  and  it  cannot  be 
denied  that  its  organization  so  far  has  been 
pitiful.  We  have  a  few  scattered  two-room 
bureaus  in  Switzerland,  in  Holland,  in  Amer- 
ica, and  a  few  amateur  speakers,  some  minia- 
ture funds  for  scattering  anemic  pamphlets, 
and  the  only  trophy  is  a  couple  of  Nobel 
peace  medals.  Wells  rightly  says:  ''The 
world  is  a  supersaturated  solution  of  the 
197 


TOMORROW 

will-for-peace  and  there  is  nothing  for  it  to 
crystallize  upon.  There  are  many  more  peo- 
ple and  there  is  much  more  intelligence  con- 
centrated upon  the  manufacture  of  cigarettes 
or  hairpins  than  there  is  on  the  establishment 
of  a  permanent  world  peace."  This  will  be 
changed  after  the  war.  The  appeal  is  so 
strong  that  the  service  of  the  peace  idea  may 
become  a  real  calling  and  profession  like 
teaching  and  preaching  and  curing.  If  a 
large  part  of  the  population  were  sincerely 
to  believe  that  war  is  murder,  the  guns  would 
rust. 

Some  have  also  proposed  to  undermine  the 
war  idea  by  removing  the  fundamental  cause 
for  war,  which  is  claimed  to  be  the  desire  for 
foreign  territory.  ''The  desire  for  acquir- 
ing new  territory  may  become  manifest  only 
when  occasion  offers  to  gratify  it,  but  it  is 
ever  present  in  each  and  every  nation.  At 
times  it  asserted  itself  even  in  such  a  peace- 
loving  people  as  our  own;  think  only  of 
Mexico  and  Texas,  of  Alaska,  Hawaii,  Porto 
Eico,  Philippines."  If  an  American  speaks 
thus,  with  how  much  more  truth  a  Euro- 
pean could  link  the  wars  of  the  past  with  the 
wishes  for  enlarged  territory!  Wars  will 
198 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

disappear  as  soon  as  it  is  agreed  that  in  fu- 
ture no  territory  can  come  under  the  control 
of  a  new  possessor.  The  plan  is  typical  of 
the  idle  fantasies  which  abound  in  the  paci- 
fistic  paradise.  Plenty  of  other  reasons  led 
to  war  even  where  territory  was  coveted ;  the 
desire  was  often  only  the  accompaniment  of 
deeper  emotions  which  really  caused  the  war. 
But  a  greater  obstacle  is  that  such  an  agree- 
ment would  not  be  guaranteed;  it  would  be 
broken  after  the  usual  pattern  of  war-makers. 
On  the  other  hand,  if  a  world  government 
could  be  formed  which  would  make  sure 
that  the  agreement  was  kept,  no  such  special 
ban  on  territorial  changes  would  be  needed: 
such  a  government  would  itself  be  sufficient 
to  enforce  peace.  But  finally  the  medicine 
would  be  as  bad  as  the  disease.  It  would 
mean  that  the  distribution  of  lands  at  this 
chance  moment  of  history  would  be  artifi- 
cially maintained  for  all  time.  The  stream 
with  all  its  waves  would  suddenly  be  frozen ; 
nothing  could  move  on.  The  development  of 
history  would  stop;  aspiring  nations  would 
be  unable  to  grow,  decaying  nations  would  be 
left  in  their  abundance.  For  six  thousand 
years  we  can  follow  the  growth  and  fall  of 
199 


TOMORROW 

ever  new  nations;  and  tomorrow  we  are  to 
decree  that  for  the  next  six  thousand  years 
this  natural  process  is  to  stop  and  every 
square  foot  is  to  be  left  to  the  heirs  of  those 
who  inhabit  it  today.  Such  an  age  would  be 
not  only  peaceful  but  stagnant.  As  long  as 
the  nations  have  a  right  to  land  as  national 
property,  the  right  to  enlarge  the  posses- 
sions is  needed.  I  have  pointed  out  before 
that  the  only  true  remedy  would  be  the  aboli- 
tion of  territorial  property  in  the  way  in 
which  the  socialists  want  to  abolish  capital. 
But  while  the  attractiveness  of  such  radical 
reforms  may  be  doubtful,  their  present  im- 
possibility is  sure.  What  else? 

It  has  been  proposed  to  further  the  cause 
of  peace  through  the  application  of  the  insur- 
ance idea  to  international  affairs.  Certainly 
the  principle  of  insurance  has  been  found 
fruitful  and  powerful  and  unifying  in  the 
social  structure  of  individual  men;  why  not 
make  it  serviceable  to  nations'?  Mutual  inter- 
national insurance  would  protect  the  partici- 
pants against  the  destructive  calamities  due 
to  war.  But  only  the  losses  o£  those  nations 
are  to  be  reimbursed  which  are  attacked; 
the  nation  which  begins  the  war  loses  the 
200 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

right  to  compensation.  Not  political  govern- 
ments but  trustees  would  have  control  of  the 
distribution.  The  plan  was  hatched  in  the 
midst  of  this  war;  and  yet  this  war  is  the 
most  convincing  argument  against  it.  To 
begin  with,  would  any  insurance  arranged 
ten  years  ago  have  provided  for  the  enor- 
mous sums  which  alone  could  pay  the  dam- 
ages for  this  disaster?  What  nation  would 
have  been  willing  to  pay  the  premium  for  it, 
as  it  would  have  meant  to  double  the  taxes? 
Instead,  each  nation  would  have  preferred  to 
insure  itself  or  would  have  hoped  to  find 
indemnity  through  a  victory  which  dictates 
the  conditions  to  the  enemy.  Moreover,  has 
this  war  not  impressively  shown  that  the 
thought  of  mere  material  losses  is  every- 
where the  least  decisive  factor?  Each  of  the 
fourteen  nations  in  the  struggle  has  proved 
its  readiness  to  sacrifice  all  earthly  goods  for 
the  spiritual  values — how  can  financial  insur- 
ance influence  history?  And  is  it  to  pay  for 
the  five  million  dead  and  the  ten  million 
crippled? 

But  the  central  error  of  the  plan  lies  in 
the  idea  that  he  who  starts  the  war  is  to  be 
punished  by  losing  the  indemnity.    Has  this 
201 


TOMORROW 

war  not  sufficiently  taught  the  world  that  it 
is  entirely  arbitrary  ever  to  decide  who  has 
made  the  first  move  in  the  war  game  ?  There 
is  no  reason  to  believe  that  future  genera- 
tions will  know  anything  about  the  beginning 
of  the  present  war  which  would  substantially 
change  the  evidence  of  today.  Sympathy  and 
antipathy  will  shade  the  events  of  1905  to 
1915  after  centuries  as  much  as  today,  just 
as  for  instance  the  lifework  of  Luther  and 
the  whole  history  of  the  Reformation  are 
even  today  characterized  by  Protestant  and 
Catholic  historians  with  opposite  epithets. 
Whether  King  Edward  VII  with  his  encir- 
cling policy  or  Emperor  Franz  Josef  with  his 
ultimatum  to  Servia  or  Czar  Nicholas  with 
his  rapid  mobilization  or  Emperor  William 
with  his  ultimatum  to  Russia  started  the  war 
is  not  a  question  of  fact  but  of  interpreta- 
tion. If  Carrizal  had  led  to  war,  would 
America  or  Mexico  have  started  it?  It  is 
always  the  same  story;  and  this  most  sub- 
jective element  is  proposed  as  the  one  ob- 
jective pivot  on  which  all  hinges. 

But  let  us  not  think  of  such  amateurish 
patchwork.     The  masters  of  the  craft  have 
built  better:  the  hope  of  the  maturest  paci- 
202 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

fism  rests  on  the  prevention  of  war  by  courts 
of  arbitration,  by  treaties  for  retardation,  by 
enforcement  of  delay.  I  know  you  are  a 
great  believer  in  these  new-fashioned  entan- 
glements for  the  bellicose.  I  share  this  belief 
but  faint-heartedly.  I  do  not  believe  that 
they  are  real  historic  solutions,  and  therefore 
I  have  no  confidence  that  they  will  be  power- 
ful factors  in  the  future.  Certainly  the  ma- 
chinery for  arbitration  will  be  steadily  im- 
proved by  the  political  engineers.  The  beau- 
tiful palace  in  The  Hague  will  again  open 
its  gate  of  hammered  iron  about  which  the 
spiders  now  spin  their  webs;  international 
rules  will  be  agreed  to  in  new  Hague  con- 
ferences: new  declarations  of  London,  of 

!       '  ' 

Paris,  of  Berlin  will  replace  the  old  ones 
which  the  war  has  riddled.  Yet  no  force 
stands  behind  the  Hague  decisions.  Will  the 
nations  really  be  satisfied  with  an  arbitra- 
tion court  when  vital  questions  are  involved? 
Koutine  conflicts,  of  course,  have  often  been 
settled  without  war;  the  judges  then  simply 
continue  the  work  of  the  diplomats.  But 
when  momentous  questions  of  national  fate 
demand  a  conclusion,  will  the  great  nations 
put  their  honor  and  existence  into  the  hands 
203 


TOMORROW 

of  judges?  I  fear  the  time  is  still  far  dis- 
tant. They  know  too  well  that  every  inter- 
national agreement  allows  many  interpreta- 
tions. When  the  officers  of  the  German 
Mo  ewe  brought  the  English  steamer  Appam 
into  the  American  harbor,  they  relied  on  the 
old  Prussian- American  treaty  which  seemed 
so  perfectly  clear ;  and  yet  the  lawyers  found 
a  way  to  interpret  the  agreement  so  that  the 
Allies  could  take  the  prize  ship  away  from 
the  German  captors.  The  analogy  of  inter- 
national courts  with  national  ones  fails  not 
only  because  there  is  no  superior  force  to 
back  the  decision,  but  also  because  there  is 
smaller  chance  of  finding  really  impartial 
judges  free  from  national  prejudices. 

Yet  the  historic  shortcoming  of  the  inter- 
national court  has  deeper  reasons.  There 
have  been  few  wars  in  modern  times  in  which 
right  was  on  one  side  and  wrong  on  the  other. 
Only  in  histories  rewritten  for  boys  and  girls 
are  right  and  wrong  fighting.  It  would  be 
easy  to  suppress  war  in  the  world  if  simply 
the  just  and  the  unjust  stood  opposed  to  one 
another.  In  reality,  the  typical  case  which 
leads  to  war  is  one  in  which  a  good  right 
suffers  from  the  contest  with  another  good 
204 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

right.  In  almost  every  struggle  of  nations 
both  sides  are  right  and  both  would  be  un- 
worthy of  their  heritage  if  they  did  not  stand 
for  their  good  cause.  In  other  words — I  do 
not  say  in  nicer  words,  but  in  those  which 
the  pacifists  have  forced  on  us — the  real 
cause  in  almost  every  modern  war  was  not 
justiciable.  Real  international  wrongs  have 
mostly  been  hushed  up  and  have  seldom  led 
to  bloody  conflicts;  unjust  intentions  have 
usually  won  by  bribery.  No  international 
tribunals  are  needed  for  the  culprits;  they 
work  with  subtler  means  than  war.  But  when 
the  clouds  of  war  are  massing  above  the 
horizon  and  when  a  true  struggle  of  peoples 
is  near,  good  rights  stand  against  good 
rights,  rights  inherited,  rights  won  through 
honest  work,  rights  acquired  by  custom.  No 
judge  knows  means  of  justice  by  which  he 
can  decide  between  two  equally  good  rights 
when  they  are  unfit  for  compromise,  and  the 
best  meaning  council  cannot  bring  help.  If 
a  final  decision  is  secured  by  power  and  pas- 
sion, it  is  not  that  might  intrudes  upon  right, 
but  that  might  steps  in  because,  where  equal 
right  is  on  both  sides,  the  judge  is  helpless. 
But,  then,  at  least,  we  ought  to  rule  out 
205 


TOMORROW 

the  passion;  nobody  ought  to  take  up  arms 
until  a  year  has  passed,  a  year  in  which  com- 
missions have  gathered  and  examined  and 
recorded  the  facts  and  made  the  complex 
issues  simple,  or — which  usually  is  still  more 
quieting  for  passions — made  the  simple  issues 
confused.  But  will  the  hysteria  of  a  yellow 
press  yield  to  the  zeal  of  chairmen  and  re- 
cording secretaries  until  twelve  months  have 
passed  over  the  injury  to  the  nation?  Only 
one  way  seems  open — a  might  must  be  estab- 
lished which  is  stronger  than  the  right  of 
self-defense.  We  must  be  able  to  compel  the 
unruly  nation  by  militant  power  to  wait  a 
year  at  the  gates  of  the  arena.  This  is  the 
program  of  the  League  to  Enforce  Peace, 
with  the  "Enforce"  printed  red  in  the  title. 
Will  it  really  bring  us  salvation? 

At  the  threshold  we  must  not  forget  that 
the  year  of  enforced  waiting  would  protect 
any  wrongdoer.  If  a  wrong  can  be  continued 
in  any  case  for  a  whole  year,  the  injury  may 
have  become  irreparable;  to  take  away  the 
weapons  of  protection  for  a  year  may  mean 
to  make  the  victim  helpless  and  to  settle  the 
issue  against  the  innocent.  A  nation  may 
violate  the  sea  rights  of  another,  may  destroy 
206 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

its  mail,  blacklist  its  commerce,  and  yet  it 
may  be  entirely  safe  in  doing  so  for  a  year 
because  no  threatening  ultimatum  is  per- 
mitted. But  worse  than  that,  instead  of  cool- 
ing the  war  temper,  the  year  of  delay  might 
simply  become  a  year  of  wild  preparation 
which  would  raise  the  passion  to  fever  heat. 
If  the  nations  of  Europe  had  foreseen  the 
war  of  today  and  had  known  the  date  of  its 
beginning  a  year  before,  each  would  have 
known  how  to  use  the  available  time.  Russia 
would  have  hastily  completed  its  railway 
system;  France  and  England  would  have 
strengthened  their  war  industry;  and,  above 
all,  Germany  would  have  prepared  by  provi- 
sioning itself  for  years  like  a  fortress.  She 
could  have  done  it  easily;  her  lack  of  prepa- 
ration was  her  only  misfortune;  it  would 
have  been  avoided  if  the  German  govern- 
ment had  known  a  year,  or  at  least  a  month, 
before  that  the  break  would  come. 

Moreover,  the  year  of  preparation  would 
not  only  include  guns  and  shells,  flour  and 
canned  goods,  but  alliances;  the  year  would 
become  a  year  for  the  expansion  of  the  crisis. 
More  and  more  nations  would  take  the  one  or 
the  other  side,  and  the  provincial  struggle 
207 


TOMORROW 

would  swell  during  the  year  into  a  conti- 
nental warfare.  But  worst  of  all:  a  strong 
people,  unwilling  to  give  the  opponents  all 
the  chances  for  a  year's  sinister  preparation, 
would  send  its  ultimatum  before  that  date; 
and  the  result,  according  to  the  plans,  would 
be  that  all  the  nations  of  the  league  would  be 
obliged  to  enter  into  the  struggle.  Every 
local  fight  would  thus  have  a  tendency  to 
grow  into  a  world  war ;  truly  such  a  League 
to  Enforce  Peace  would  be  a  league  to  endan- 
ger peace.  Some  imagine  that  such  a  gen- 
eral disaster  would  be  averted  because  no 
nation  would  dare  to  face  a  whole  world  in 
arms.  Yet  the  Germans  have  had  to  fight 
against  fivefold  superiority,  and  after  two 
years  practically  no  enemy  stands  on  German 
soil.  Above  all,  such  a  fight  of  the  world 
against  one  is  a  fiction  which  would  never  be 
realized:  A  nation  in  the  league  might  be 
bound  by  the  obligation  to  turn  against  the 
power  which  declared  war.  But  this  might 
conflict  with  its  other  duty,  to  defend  a  friend 
or  a  neighboring  people  whose  welfare  might 
be  intertwined  with  its  own  free  existence. 
In  the  real  setting  of  the  historic  nations 
not  one  can  be  crushed  without  weakening 
208 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

certain  others,  and  these  certainly  have  no 
right  to  sacrifice  their  own  future.  Auto- 
matically they  would  join  the  friend,  and  the 
outcome  would  be  one  alliance  against  an- 
other alliance,  a  battle  front  of  many  thou- 
sand miles  where  without  the  league  a  few 
short  contests  might  have  settled  a  provincial 
quarrel. 

The  League  to  Enforce  Peace  is  like  the 
league  for  the  use  of  Esperanto.  This,  too, 
was  invented  in  order  to  harmonize  the  na- 
tions of  the  globe.  Their  common  mistake 
is  to  fancy  that  in  the  world  of  history  an 
artificial,  abstract  construction  can  replace 
that  which  has  grown  organically.  The  lin- 
guistic forms  of  a  nation's  expression  and 
the  emotional  forms  of  its  friendly  or  hostile 
behavior  cannot  be  created  in  a  philological 
or  juristic  laboratory;  they  have  to  grow  in 
free  historical  development.  The  mere  ab- 
stract formula  for  international  war  obliga- 
tions, treating  each  case  after  the  same  log- 
ical pattern,  must  remain  a  failure.  It  will 
always  be  brought  to  nothing  by  the  organic 
alliances  which  are  held  together  by  the  self- 
conscious  will  and  the  historic  interests  of 
great  nations.  All  the  proposed  means  to 
209 


TOMORROW 

enforce  peace  are  still  so  doubtful  and  so 
open  to  discussion  that  these  plans  surely 
ought  not  to  be  mixed  up  with  the  peace  con- 
ference at  the  end  of  the  present  war.  The 
peace  agreements  which  we  need  today  in 
order  to  stop  the  carnage  have  nothing  to 
do  with  the  plans  for  the  future  prevention 
of  war.  The  one  would  disastrously  inter- 
fere with  the  other.  Let  us  have  peace  first 
and  then  when  good  will  on  earth  has  re- 
turned, let  us  consider  what  the  world  can 
do  to  further  the  chances  for  its  continuation. 
We  must  have  at  first  the  old  peace  again 
before  we  can  establish  the  new  pacifism. 

But  have  I  really  enumerated  all  the  essen- 
tial plans  for  the  strengthening  of  future 
peace?  Preparatory  armament  or  partial 
disarmament,  prohibition  of  private  muni- 
tion sales,  propaganda  for  pacifistic  theories 
and  establishment  of  pacifistic  bureaus, 
agreements  forbidding  the  transfer  of  terri- 
tory, war  insurance,  economic  isolation  of  the 
peace  disturbing  nation,  arbitration  courts, 
international  councils,  commission  investiga- 
tion and  leagues  of  nations  to  enforce  peace 
by  war:  are  they  the  most  important  weapons 
against  future  wars?  I  have  my  psycholog- 
210 


THE  NEW  PACIFISM 

ical  doubts.  Through  all  these  schemes  we 
try  to  serve  peace  directly.  Surely  they  all 
may  be  helpful  and  therefore  desirable,  but 
the  greatest  aid  to  peace  must  come  indi- 
rectly. The  nations  must  serve  peace  with- 
out being  aware  that  it  is  an  especial  service. 
All  these  elaborate  efforts  are  negative ;  their 
conscious  aim  is  not  to  have  war.  What  the 
world  really  needs  is  the  positive  assertion 
of  good  will  and  harmonious  cooperation 
which  carries  peace  with  it  as  a  natural  by- 
product which  does  not  absorb  special  atten- 
tion. Friends  nowhere  need  systematic 
arrangements  to  inhibit  struggles;  there  is 
no  impulse  toward  fighting  among  them.  The 
real  advance  of  any  individual  does  not  re- 
sult from  his  efforts  to  fight  mistakes  but 
from  his  will  to  do  the  right  thing.  The 
progress  of  mankind  must  come  along  the 
same  road.  The  nations  must  approach  one 
another,  must  learn  to  understand  one  an- 
other, and  bind  themselves  together  not  for 
the  suppression  of  war  but  for  the  construc- 
tive work  of  the  world.  Peace  will  then  be 
the  wonderful  fruit  which  is  ripened  by  the 
warmth  and  sunshine.  Historic  alliances  and 
organizations  which  have  been  organically 
211 


TOMORROW 

developed  for  common  achievement  will  be 
the  true  warrants  and  sureties  for  lasting 
peace.  As  soon  as  firm  international  organi- 
zations are  formed,  the  international  courts 
will  easily  come  to  their  rights.  But  through 
such  organizations  the  new  pacifism  turns 
into  a  new  internationalism.  Let  this  be  the 
center  of  my  next  letter.  But  I  notice  my 
letters  have  grown  longer  and  longer.  You 
may  feel  like  Goethe's  wizard's  apprentice, 
who  called  the  magic  servant  to  bring  water, 
but  who  did  not  know  how  to  check  the  flood. 
Yes,  your  question  about  the  changes  after 
the  war  started  this  epistolary  inundation. 
But  let  me  comfort  you  at  least  by  the  prom- 
ise that  the  next  two  letters  on  international- 
ism will  surely  be  the  last.  Hence  I  hope  you 
will  pardon 

Your  old  friend, 

H.  M. 


vin 

THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

MY  DEAR  FRIEND: 

Do  you  remember  our  long  walk  on  the 
beach  to  the  queer  old  fishermen's  town  when 
you  visited  us  many  years  ago  here  at  our 
summer  place  I  You  were  delighted  with  its 
quaint  New  England  streets.  In  the  mean- 
time I  have  become  acquainted  with  many 
of  the  good  old-fashioned  people  there.  They 
have  such  odd  ways  of  talk;  one  phrase  has 
struck  me  often :  they  call  everyone  who  does 
not  belong  to  their  little  town  a  "foreigner." 
They  are  doubtless  patriotic  citizens  of  their 
country  and  yet  their  fellow-countryman  of 
the  next  town  is  to  them  a  foreigner,  simply 
because  their  town  traditions  are  so  essential 
to  them  that  anyone  who  stands  outside  ap- 
pears sharply  separated  from  their  little 
world.  But  sometimes  I  must  think  that  they 
simply  say  what  most  people  feel:  an  alien 
£13 


TOMORROW 

is  to  most  men  anyone  who  is  not  spun  into 
their  particular  traditions  and  prejudices. 
We  all  are  queer  townspeople  who  know  only 
our  local  or  provincial  or  national  home 
ideas  and  do  not  admit  the  stranger  to  the 
familiar  streets  of  our  mind.  Is  it  not  a 
vain  undertaking  ever  to  preach  the  spirit 
of  internationalism1?  Have  not  these  years 
of  war  annihilated  even,  that  faint  feeling  of 
world-community  which  had  developed  in 
"the  piping  times  of  peace"?  Not  only  at 
the  belligerent  coasts  were  the  gleaming  sig- 
nal fires  extinguished  when  the  war  began; 
it  became  dark  on  neutral  shores  too  and 
dark  on  the  shores  of  our  friendships. 

We  who  had  faithfully  devoted  our  life- 
work  to  the  hope  that  America,  Germany  and 
England  would  grow  into  a  firmly  allied 
group  of  friends  had  to  suffer  most  from  the 
sudden  loss  of  international  sympathies.  We 
had  confidently  believed  that  the  inner  unity 
of  these  three  Teutonic  nations  would  be  the 
greatest  power  for  world  harmony.  Surely 
this  faith  which  inspired  us  did  not  grow 
from  any  lack  of  sympathy  for  other  na- 
tions. Who  did  not  feel  in  those  sunny  days 
of  yore  that  his  life  was  richer  for  the  con- 
214 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

tact  with  the  fascinating  brilliancy  of  France 
and  the  mellow  beauty  of  Italy,  with  the 
genial  spirit  of  Austria  and  the  inexhaustible 
soul  of  Russia,  with  the  admirable  dash  of 
Japan  and  the  tremendous  power  for  civic 
good  in  the  small  states  of  Europe!  Never- 
theless to  us  the  great  historic  chord  was 
America,  Great  Britain  and  Germany,  three 
nations  so  different  in  traits  and  traditions 
and  yet  so  alike  in  their  health,  strength  and 
moral  energy.  We  felt  they  were  the  three 
really  progressive  peoples  which  ought  to 
work  in  growing  friendship  for  the  glorious 
advance  of  the  world.  The  fulfillment  of 
these  wishes  had  seemed  so  near.  Every  day, 
we  fancied,  brought  the  three  peoples  more 
cordially  together,  the  three  Teutonic  master- 
nations  in  which  the  aristocratic  will  toward 
highest  civilization  blended  with  the  demo- 
cratic spirit  of  individual  responsibility.  And 
suddenly  hatred  hissed  through  the  Teutonic 
lands.  Every  British  thought  was  red  with 
rage  against  Germany  and  every  German 
feeling  hurled  its  anger  against  England. 
America  boiled  with  indignation  against  the 
kaiserites,  and  the  Fatherland  was  disgusted 
with  America.  Even  England's  contempt 
215 


TOMORROW 

for  America  broke  out  again,  and  America 
came  to  the  end  of  its  patience  with  a  nation 
which  destroys  its  mail  and  its  trade  with 
the  neutrals  and  humbles  it  by  its  black- 
lists. 

A  bitter  warfare  of  minds  came  over  the 
three  peoples  and  all  the  dreams  of  the  bet- 
ter past  were  cruelly  shattered.  I  know  some 
months  ago  you  took  a  more  optimistic  view 
and  wrote  to  me  that  the  so-called  " hatred'* 
had  really  vanished  in  Germany.  It  broke  out 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war,  when  it  had  a 
kind  of  social  function.  The  depth  of  indigna- 
tion, you  said  at  that  time,  was  necessary  in 
order  to  stir  everybody  to  those  unheard-of 
sacrifices  which  the  defense  against  fivefold 
superiority  of  men  demanded  from  every  Ger- 
man ;  but  it  has  long  since  yielded  to  an  emo- 
tion of  higher  order.  You  said  that  the  Ger- 
mans of  today  are  simply  bound  by  the  sol- 
emn resolution  to  fulfill  the  historic  task  of 
winning  this  war;  the  God  of  history  gave 
them  a  duty  to  be  performed.  Of  course, 
there  are  temperamental  variations,  but  I 
think  you  are  right  as  far  as  the  masses  of 
the  people  are  concerned.  I  am  inclined  to 
think  that  a  similar  change  has  come  to  Eng- 
216 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

land  and  France.  It  lies  in  the  character  of 
French  journalism  that  the  language  of  ex- 
treme emotion  still  makes  itself  heard  in 
strident  tones  when  the  thoughts  have  so- 
bered down. 

But  the  passion  of  hatred  is  still  sweeping 
through  the  streets  of  the  American  East. 
Indeed  I  have  the  impression  that  the  Ger- 
mans are  unaware  of  the  extent  to  which  the 
American  rage  has  gone.  They  always  fancy 
that  it  is  only  the  sensationalism  of  the  press 
which  fosters  the  anti-German  hysteria  of 
the  public.  They  have  no  idea  how  far  the 
churches,  how  far  the  universities  have  gone, 
and,  alas,  how  far  press,  priests  and  profes- 
sors have  leavened  the  whole  social  loaf.  Let 
us  not  deceive  ourselves.  The  operations  are 
well  under  way  to  have  this  American  hatred 
perpetuated  when  the  war  excitement  has 
died  out  and  to  inject  a  cruel  unfairness  into 
generations  to  come,  generations  which  them- 
selves will  not  know  in  what  narrowness  they 
have  been  nurtured.  The  entire  school  life 
will  be  filled  with  an  anti-German  spirit,  un- 
less radical  changes  can  be  effected.  In  the 
field  which  is  nearest  to  you  and  me,  the  field 
of  scholarship,  the  devastation  is  almost 
217 


TOMORROW 

tragic.  In  the  European  countries  where 
the  scholarly  work  stands  in  the  foreground 
of  public  esteem  and  is  perfectly  protected 
by  old  traditions,  the  danger  is  small.  Any 
yielding  to  the  passion  of  the  hour,  however 
unfortunate,  will  soon  be  corrected.  No 
German  will  ignore  or  belittle  the  scholarly 
contributions  of  Frenchmen  or  Englishmen, 
and  vice  versa.  But  in  America  where 
scholarship  has  not  yet  come  to  its  own, 
where  it  is  not  backed  by  public  esteem  but 
has  to  defend  itself  constantly  against  the 
world  of  affairs,  the  present  breakdown  of 
the  truly  scholarly  spirit  may  be  irreparable. 
The  most  alarming  symptom  of  the  Amer- 
ican situation,  however,  is  that  the  hatred 
against  Germany  has  become  the  passport 
to  social  prominence.  The  large  middle  class 
of  the  people  is  essentially  fair,  but  the  layer 
which  travels  to  Europe  knows  London  and 
Paris  a  hundred  times  better  than  Berlin  and 
Vienna.  Knowledge  means  habit,  and  habit 
means  sympathy  and  love.  The  predomi- 
nance of  the  woman  in  American  society  with 
her  easily  excited  emotions  and  the  influence 
of  the  social  climbers  are  especially  respon- 
sible for  a  passionate  one-sidedness  of  the 
218 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

upper  class,  which  far  surpasses  the  bellig- 
erent setting  of  European  society. 

And  yet,  my  friend,  it  is  my  sure  belief 
that  in  America  as  well  as  in  Europe  sanity 
will  return  and  that  without  any  superficial 
concessions  in  the  realm  of  principles  the  de- 
mand for  fairness  will  soon  prevail  again. 
Do  not  forget  that  the  nations  at  war  have 
been  too  much  in  contact  throughout  these 
years  not  to  become  fully  aware  of  the  noble 
and  strong  traits  of  their  opponents  too. 
However  much  indignation  may  be  expressed 
in  the  lines,  between  the  lines  you  can  read 
the  growing  respect.  I  know  the  low  estimate 
which  the  average  German  had  of  the  moral 
fiber  of  the  Frenchman:  he  saw  in  France 
a  decadent  nation  which  had  lost  its  courage 
and  spirit  of  sacrifice.  This  hasty  contempt 
has  yielded  to  respect,  nay,  to  admiration. 
The  judgment  about  England  was  more  fa- 
vorable, but  the  average  German  had  no  idea 
of  the  firmness  of  the  British  Empire.  He 
knew  that  through  three  centuries  a  ruthless 
warfare  had  subjugated  one-fifth  of  the 
globe.  But  he  did  not  grasp  the  earnestness 
with  which  the  British  nation  had  fulfilled 
its  civilizing  mission  and  its  duties  toward 
219 


TOMORROW 

its  colonies.  The  loyalty  with  which  the  dis- 
tant members  of  the  Empire  and  even  the 
Boers  stood  by  the  island  has  certainly  im- 
pressed every  fair  German  and  altered  his 
opinion  about  the  English. 

Western  Europe  on  the  other  hand  has  rec- 
ognized clearly  how  superficial  had  been  the 
talk  about  the  difference  between  govern- 
ment and  people  in  the  Fatherland.  They  saw 
how  millions  of  volunteers  rushed  forward 
and  how  all  parties  were  united  in  the  sup- 
port of  the  governmental  policies.  More- 
over they  had  derided  the  German  thorough- 
ness as  stupid  pedantry;  soon  they  recog- 
nized that  it  was  the  indispensable  condition 
of  efficiency  in  the  hour  of  pressure,  and  their 
imitation  expressed  their  approval.  Many 
such  elements  of  respect  have  intertwined 
with  the  hatred  of  the  belligerents  and  weak- 
ened it.  The  Americans  have  been  less 
touched  by  such  passing  emotions  because 
they  are  too  far  off,  but  where  an  actual  con- 
tact occurred,  new  sentiments  flashed  up. 
No  doubt  the  first  submarine  which  crossed 
the  ocean  and  brought  a  peaceful  message 
into  the  harbor  of  Baltimore  has  caught  the 
American  imagination,  and  the  cordiality 

220 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

shown  to  that  brave  little  crew  contrasted 
charmingly  with  the  heat  of  the  standard 
editorials.  The  world  moves  forward,  while 
hatred  pulls  backward. 

The  fundamental  trouble,  after  all,  lies  in 
the  lack  of  mutual  understanding.  It  has  al- 
ways been  so  and  the  war  has  only  reaped 
the  harvest.  The  nations  of  the  world  do 
not  know  one  another,  and  where  the 
acquaintance  remains  on  the  surface  any 
artificial  agitation  in  favor  of  or  against  a 
nation  can  succeed,  as  it  nowhere  finds  re- 
sistance. If  the  appeal  to  emotional  preju- 
dices is  skillfully  made,  the  image  of  the  na- 
tion becomes  distorted  for  better  or  for 
worse.  Today  the  Americans  with  sincere 
enthusiasm  look  on  England,  France  and 
Eussia  as  the  countries  which  stand  for  free- 
dom in  the  world.  The  suggestion  of  the  pro- 
Ally  propaganda  has  simply  extinguished 
the  memory  of  all  which  the  history  of  the 
last  few  centuries  has  taught.  The  three  na- 
tions which  have  built  up  gigantic  empires 
by  relentless  conquest,  enlarging  and  enlarg- 
ing their  territories  by  overpowering  nation 
after  nation  without  ever  asking  their  con- 
sent, are  suddenly  brought  into  contrast 


TOMORROW 

with  Germany,  which  is  today  still  like  a 
pygmy  among  giants.  It  would  be  so  easy  to 
reverse  the  picture. 

Within  a  few  weeks  Charles  W.  Eliot  has 
sharply  formulated  the  reasons  why  the 
Americans  ought  to  enter  the  war  on  the 
side  of  the  Allies  even  at  this  late  date  in 
the  third  summer  of  the  war.  They  must 
do  so  because  the  American  ideals  coincide 
with  those  of  the  Allies  and  are  opposed  to 
the  German  ones,  which  are  in  every  respect 
the  contrary.  Those  American  ideals  are  po- 
litical and  social.  The  social  ones  Eliot 
states  as  follows :  "  1.  A  mobile  social  state 
in  which  the  individual  is  free  to  do  his  best 
and  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  his  efforts.  2.  Uni- 
versal education,  not  confined  to  childhood. 
3.  The  habitual  expectation  of  more  truth, 
light  and  good  for  mankind.  4.  Publicity. 
5.  Efficiency  through  freedom  and  a  disci- 
pline in  which  free  men  cooperate.  6.  Wide- 
ly diffused  private  property  protected  by 
equal  laws."  Now  can  anyone  who  really 
knows  Germany  doubt  that  every  one  of  these 
six  social  ideals  is  a  fundamentally  German 
ideal?  Those  who  are  not  well  informed 
need  only  to  read  some  of  President  Eliot's 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

former  speeches,  one  of  which  was  made  only 
a  few  months  before  the  war,  in  praise  of 
German  universal  education  and  of  German 
freedom  and  discipline.  It  is  not  much  dif- 
ferent with  regard  to  the  political  ideals. 
He  formulates  them:  "1.  Government  rest- 
ing on  the  consent  and  cooperation  of  the 
governed.  2.  Manhood  suffrage.  3.  The 
elective  executive.  4.  Just  and  equal  laws. 
5.  The  general  good.  6.  The  popular  as- 
sembly, democratic  or  representative."  Can 
it  really  be  claimed  that  these  six  political 
ideals  are  realized  in  America  and  the  allied 
countries  but  opposed  by  Germany,  and  that 
America  ought  to  sacrifice  its  youth  on  the 
battlefield  in  order  to  crush  Germany's  re- 
sistance to  these  ideals? 

Of  course,  those  who  know  the  character 
of  German  government  only  through  the 
caricatures  would  claim  that  "resting  on  the 
consent  of  the  governed"  indicates  the  dif- 
ference. The  German  would  say,  on  the  con- 
trary, that  the  American  government  lacks 
that  consent,  as  President  Wilson  was  elected 
by  a  minority  of  the  voters,  the  majority  not 
consenting  to  the  principles  of  his  platform. 
In  Germany,  he  would  add,  the  whole  nation, 
223 


TOMORROW 

with  the  exception  of  the  small  radical  wing 
of  the  social  democrats,  stands  solidly  be- 
hind the  Kaiser.  That  is  the  whole  meaning 
of  the  German  idea,  that  national  leadership 
ought  to  rest  on  the  consent  of  the  nation 
and  that  that  is  possible  only  if  the  leader  is 
not  elected  by  struggling  parties.  The  in- 
heritance of  the  rulership  makes  it  exempt 
from  rivalry  and  dissent  and  transforms  it 
into  a  symbol  of  the  national  spirit  sup- 
ported by  the  cheerful  trust  and  belief  of  all. 
How  much  ill  will  would  evaporate  if  people 
everywhere  understood  better  the  meaning 
of  foreign  institutions  and  recognized  that 
the  difference  of  means  and  methods  does 
not  mean  a  difference  of  ends  and  ideals ! 

But  there  would  be  little  hope  for  the 
harmony  of  the  world  if  we  had  to  wait  until 
the  nations  learned  about  one  another  all  of 
which  they  have  shown  themselves  ignorant 
during  the  war.  The  only  hope  which  we 
can  foster  is  that  they  at  least  may  try  to  for- 
get those  travesties  of  the  truth  which  the 
malice  of  the  hour  has  created  in  every  land. 
The  mob  shouts  everywhere,  remember  this 
and  remember  that  and  remember  every- 
thing. The  psychologist  cannot  contribute 
224 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

anything  better  to  the  discussion  than  the  re- 
minder that  the  mind  has  mechanisms  for 
well-selected  forgetting  as  well  as  for  re- 
membering. Most  people  think  of  forgetting 
as  if  it  were  a  weakness  and  a  defect.  Surely 
much  which  we  forget  fades  away  from  our 
mind  because  we  are  unable  to  hold  it.  Even 
that  is  a  useful  arrangement  as  we  should 
be  overburdened  if  every  insignificant  de- 
tail of  our  experience  were  to  linger  on  in 
the  reservoirs  of  our  memory.  But  we  know 
today  that  there  is  a  more  delicate  adjust- 
ment of  the  forgetting  process  to  the  needs 
of  life.  Our  subconscious  mechanisms  can 
inhibit  those  memory  ideas  which  are  linked 
with  unpleasant  emotions.  "We  all  shall  need 
a  certain  impulse  to  repress  some  painful 
memories  of  these  war  years,  but  we  can  rely 
on  the  power  of  such  a  resolution.  We  really 
can  forget,  and  there  would  be  faint  hope 
for  reconstruction  if  we  were  to  refuse  to 
cross  this  bridge  to  a  better  time.  What  is 
the  use  if  a  reasonable  man  like  H.  G.  Wells 
ends  his  book  "What  Is  Coming?"  with  the 
pledge,  * '  I  will  do  all  that  I  can  to  restore  the 
unity  of  mankind,"  and  yet  adds  as  the  last 
word:  "Nevertheless  is  it  true  that  for  me 
225 


TOMORROW 

for  all  the  rest  of  my  life  the  Germans  I 
shall  meet,  the  German  things  I  shall  see,  will 
appear  smeared  with  the  blood  of  my  people 
and  my  friends  that  the  selfishness  of  Ger- 
many has  spilled."  "With  such  logic  of  the 
heart  a  thousand  million  people  can  today 
barricade  for  themselves  every  outlook  to- 
ward the  * '  unity  of  mankind. ' '  If  every  Ger- 
man should  say  too  that  for  the  rest  of  his 
life  every  English  and  French  and  Italian 
and  Eussian  gift  will  be  stained  by  the  blood 
of  his  German  comrades  which  the  jealousy 
and  revenge  of  the  Allies  have  shed,  or  that 
everything  which  comes  from  America  will 
be  tainted  with  the  blood  of  his  friends  and 
brothers  whom  American  ammunition  killed, 
we  should  never  go  beyond  the  disheartening 
misery  of  today.  It  is  so  easy  to  remember, 
but  true  culture  shows  itself  in  the  more  dif- 
ficult art  of  forgetting. 

Yet  even  the  war  has  not  shaken  my  faith. 
However  widely  the  spirit  of  nationalism 
may  spread  its  wings,  I  feel  convinced  that 
a  new  internationalism  will  develop  no  less 
powerfully  when  the  days  of  peace  have 
come.  I  expect  that  the  commerce  of  the 
world  will  give  the  signal  for  international 
226 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

reconstruction.  The  Paris  preparations  of 
the  Allies  for  an  economic  warfare  after  the 
military  one  may  have  sounded  terrifying; 
and  yet  they  will  not  be  realized.  The  war 
cannot  be  closed  by  a  peace  which  denies 
peace.  Moreover,  strong  demands  and  low 
bids  will  meet  each  other,  however  high  the 
patriotic  fence  which  may  be  erected.  Divi- 
sion of  economic  labor  is  a  tremendous  sav- 
ing, and  Europe  will  be  too  poor  after  the 
war  to  afford  the  luxury  of  disregarding  this 
economy.  Political  custom  unions  at  first 
may  bind  only  smaller  groups,  but  very  soon 
the  world  will  again  be  one  great  market, 
and  soon  enough  the  shop  windows  of  Paris, 
Berlin,  .Vienna,  London  and  New  York  will 
be  glittering  with  the  same  trinkets  from  all 
over  the  world.  The  flag  of  the  merchant- 
man will  carry  good  will  over  all  oceans ;  and 
high  finance,  after  profiting  not  a  little  from 
the  war,  will  profit  still  more  from  the  eco- 
nomic unity  of  the  nations. 

I  put  my  hopes  no  less  in  the  cultural  in- 
terrelations. You  know  I  have  always  be- 
lieved that  political  harmony  can  be  devel- 
oped best  from  a  mutual  cultural  under- 
standing. You  remember  that  this  was  the 
227 


TOMORROW 

real  starting  point  for  the  Amerika-Institut 
in  Berlin,  the  plans  for  which  I  submitted  to 
the  German  Government  and  which  I  organ- 
ized later  in  the  year  of  my  exchange  pro- 
fessorship. I  felt  that  it  was  unsatisfactory 
to  leave  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  nations 
entirely  to  accidental  contact.  Just  as  there 
are  diplomatic  agencies  for  the  exchange  of 
political  interests,  and  chambers  of  com- 
merce and  clearing  houses  for  the  economic 
life  of  the  peoples,  a  clearing  house  for 
cultural  exchange  seemed  to  me  needed  in  our 
complex  times.  And  did  I  not  tell  you,  when 
I  showed  you  the  beautiful  Berlin  institute, 
how  much  I  hoped  that  it  would  soon  be  en- 
larged beyond  the  mere  America-Germany 
sphere  into  a  general  institute  for  interna- 
tional cultural  relations?  I  was  sure  that 
the  other  countries  would  soon  follow  the  ex- 
ample and  a  network  of  bureaus  devoted  to 
scientific  and  artistic,  social  and  spiritual 
give  and  take  would  be  spun  around  the 
globe.  It  might  have  become  the  most  pow- 
erful help  toward  international  cordiality. 
The  war  broke  in  before  that  work  could  be 
completed. 

But  whether  it  is  developed  in  future  days, 
228 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

whether  cultural  exchange  is  systematically 
planned  and  furthered  by  special  establish- 
ments, or  whether  it  is  left  to  the  chaotic  en- 
ergies of  the  millions,  in  any  case  the  work 
of  the  national  mind  will  not  be  bound  by  any 
frontiers.  It  will  carry  its  message  to  for- 
eign lands  as  before,  will  soon  again  have 
won  sympathizers,  friends  and  admirers,  and 
again  in  the  works  of  genius  we  will  have 
"travelled  in  the  print  of  olden  wars,  yet  all 
the  land  was  green,  and  love  we  found,  and 
peace,  where  fire  and  war  had  been."  My 
chief  trust  is  in  science  and  art.  The  philoso- 
phy of  hatred  can  be  the  text  only  for  some 
short  speeches ;  the  big  volumes  of  the  libra- 
ries will  be  written  in  the  spirit  of  philoso- 
phy. I  am  still  stirred  by  the  thrill  of  an  epi- 
sode which  lies  a  dozen  years  back.  It  was  the 
time  of  the  Eusso-Japanese  War.  Six  hun- 
dred leading  scholars  of  the  world  had  been 
invited  to  St.  Louis  as  guests  of  the  World's 
Fair  to  the  great  Congress  of  Arts  and  Sci- 
ences. On  the  evening  of  the  festive  ban- 
quet the  most  famous  jurist  of  Japan  made  a 
great  speech  about  the  role  of  scholarship  in 
the  life  of  mankind.  Opposite  him  sat  the 
leading  astronomer  of  Russia,  and  suddenly 
229 


TOMORROW 

the  Japanese  shouted  as  the  climax  of  his 
speech  that  this  assembly  hall  of  the  scholars 
was  the  only  place  in  the  world  where  a  Japa- 
nese would  be  ready  to  shake  hands  with  a 
Russian.  And  the  man  from  Petrograd  stood 
up  and  cordially  shook  the  hand  of  the  man 
from  Tokyo,  while  the  hall  thundered  with 
the  applause  of  their  colleagues.  Wherever 
two  scholars  meet  the  soul  of  mankind  is 
present. 

I  am  the  last  to  preach  the  cosmopolitanism 
of  science;  truth  must  be  clothed  in  its  na- 
tional garb.  Three  times  three  is  nine  for 
men  of  all  countries,  and  yet  even  mathe- 
matics has  a  different  character  in  France, 
in  Germany,  in  England,  and  a  thousand 
times  more  is  this  valid  for  the  fields  of  non- 
mathematical  knowledge.  History  and  phi- 
lology, economics  and  philosophy,  biology  and 
medicine,  jurisprudence  and  theology,  can 
never  be  molded  in  an  international  cast. 
Their  national  and  to  a  large  degree  their 
personal  coloring  is  their  strength;  and  yet 
they  all  contribute  to  the  world  system  of 
knowledge,  which  cannot  be  split  into  a  pro- 
Ally  and  an  anti-Ally  scholarship.  No  na- 
tional scholarship  can  be  great  unless  it  is 
230 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

faithful  to  international  endeavor,  and  the 
ultimate  test  of  its  value  will  remain  its  in- 
fluence on  the  thought  of  the  world.  I  know 
that  in  Germany  the  new  nationalism  pleads 
for  a  kind  of  intellectual  embargo.  The  stu- 
dents of  the  world  have  come  to  German  uni- 
versities and  have  taken  away  with  them  the 
ideas  and  methods  which  have  helped  the  for- 
eign lands.  I  hope  sincerely  that  this  petty 
view  will  not  prevail.  Whoever  spreads  the 
national  gifts  of  the  spirit  cannot  lose  anything 
but  only  win  through  cultural  influence.  A 
national  scholarship  surrounded  by  a  Chinese 
Wall  is  not  protected  but  in  gravest  danger. 
The  damage  which  these  years  of  war  have 
brought  to  the  world  of  thought  has  been  al- 
ready so  great  that  all  nations  will  have  to 
stand  together  to  repair  it  with  an  enthusi- 
astic movement  toward  open-hearted  and 
fair-minded  internationalism  of  thought. 
The  feeble  efforts  of  academic  exchanges  in 
the  past  will  be  outdone  by  great  systematic 
works  of  cooperation.  As  a  reaction  from 
the  terrific  disaster  an  international  human- 
ism like  that  in  the  days  of  the  Renaissance 
will  spring  up  in  the  civilized  nations. 

Art  and  music,  literature  and  the  drama, 
£31 


TOMORROW 

will  flourish  with  the  same  expansive  ten- 
dency. All  the  suffering  and  all  the  inspira- 
tion of  this  incomparable  time  will  live  in 
the  creations  of  the  national  arts  of  every 
nation  and  will  fill  them  with  national  heart- 
blood.  But  wherever  they  reach  greatness 
the  national  song  of  agony  or  of  joy  will  ring 
through  the  world.  Every  war  has  stimu- 
lated the  imagination  of  the  peoples  who 
lived  through  the  overwhelming  excitement. 
If  a  harvest  of  beauty  grows  from  the  blood- 
drenched  soil  of  the  world  tomorrow,  it  will 
cover  many  ravages  of  today.  The  same  will 
be  true  of  the  technical  inventions  and  prac- 
tical devices,  of  the  educational  advances  and 
social  improvements,  of  the  political  ideas 
and  public  reforms,  wherever  the  leading 
minds  create  them.  They  will  be  the  more 
efficient  the  more  they  are  produced  by  the 
conscious  energies  of  a  particular  nation,  but 
their  efficiency  will  show  itself  best  in  the 
molding  of  the  international  life.  The  prob- 
lems of  labor,  of  capital,  of  women,  of  the 
child,  of  sex,  of  vocation,  of  the  church,  the 
problems  of  alcohol,  of  crime,  of  punishment, 
of  mental  deficiency,  the  city  problem,  the 
rural  problem,  the  today  unshaped  problem, 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

will  be  furthered  in  one  land  tomorrow  only 
to  stimulate  the  experts  and  the  amateurs  in 
every  land  the  day  after  tomorrow.  The  fash- 
ions without  and  within  will  spread  as  be- 
fore, and  before  long  we  shall  again  have 
world's  fairs  and  world's  vanity  fairs  in 
which  every  nation  will  be  welcome.  At  the 
beginning  there  will  be  still  some  moral  re- 
sistance on  all  sides  to  certain  companion- 
ships ;  soon  it  will  shrink  to  a  mere  formality, 
and  after  a  while  even  this  will  appear  petty, 
old-fashioned,  and  finally  tasteless. 

But  the  internationalism  which  will  grow 
after  the  war  is  not  confined  to  the  spreading 
of  commerce,  culture  and  reform.  The  na- 
tions will  not  only  give  and  take  their  na- 
tional products  in  eager  exchange,  but  they 
will  and  must  combine  their  efforts  for  com- 
mon purposes.  The  indignant  pose  cannot 
last  long  when  a  thousand  tasks  of  interna- 
tional communication  and  transportation,  of 
hygiene  and  law,  of  credit  and  safety,  can  be 
performed  5nly  by  united  labor.  There  is  no 
use  in  abuse  if  hands  must  be  clasped.  Mail- 
ing and  shipping,  traveling  and  migrating, 
telephoning  and  cabling,  copyrighting  and 
patent  protecting,  trading  and  exchanging, 
233 


TOMORROW 

fighting  crimes  and  disease  with  common  ef- 
fort, cannot  stop  in  order  to  let  the  world 
know  that  the  German  deed  against  the  Sus- 
sex or  the  British  deed  of  the  Baralong  is 
still  alive.  The  work  of  the  world  cannot  be 
done  by  sulking,  and  there  will  be  very  much 
more  work  to  be  done  by  the  European  peo- 
ples among  their  ruins  than  they  ever  had  to 
do  in  their  gay  surroundings  of  yesterday. 
The  distress  which  stalks  through  all  coun- 
tries alike  will  force  on  them  the  need  of  co- 
operation, far  beyond  the  necessities  of  the 
past.  Surely  at  the  international  conferences 
of  government  deputies  and  in  the  congresses 
of  administrative  specialists  there  will  be  at 
first  some  cool  and  stiff  bowing;  groups  will 
be  formed  in  various  corners  of  the  hall,  and 
in  the  discussions  some  sarcastic  words  will 
scratch  old  wounds.  Yet  even  the  sharpest 
discussion  binds  men  together,  and  the  devo- 
tion to  the  common  task  of  the  future  will  be 
stronger  than  the  separating  memory  of  the 
past. 

The  fighting  nations  of  today  can  upbuild 

their  national  happiness  only  if  they  work 

with  one  another,  and  that  means  finally  for 

one  another,  with  an  energy  which  was  hardly 

234 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

needed  in  the  comfortable  days  of  Europe's 
peace.  Too  many  new  problems  have  been 
added  by  the  war  itself.  New  central  insti- 
tutes for  world  interests,  new  international  bu- 
reaus, official  and  unofficial,  will  be  demanded. 
The  elaborately  drawn  city  plan  for  a  beau- 
tiful world  center  to  be  built  somewhere  in 
Switzerland  or  in  Holland  for  the  settling  of 
the  common  affairs  of  all  nations  was  mostly 
glanced  at  with  a  smile  when  it  was  sent 
around  by  a  committee  shortly  before  the 
war ;  the  need  seemed  too  remote.  After  the 
war  the  world  may  feel  otherwise.  It  seems 
high  time  that  the  common  work  of  all  na- 
tions be  brought  more  forcefully  to  the  fore- 
ground of  interest.  The  world  post  bureau 
in  Berne  remains  the  model,  but  the  nations 
have  now  discovered  that  they  have  more  to 
do  with  one  another  than  to  write  letters  and 
postal  cards.  Great  changes  are  to  be  secured 
in  many  fields,  unless  all  peoples  alike  are  to 
suffer  from  the  past  and  are  to  remain  threat- 
ened by  ever  new  disasters.  Supernational 
organizations  will  be  inevitable  for  many 
functions  which  so  far  had  been  left  to  na- 
tional initiative  and  accidental  international 
contact. 

235 


TOMORROW 

I  hope  confidently  that  such  new  structures 
will  not  remain  isolated  but  will  slowly  be 
combined  in  a  general  superstructure  above 
the  national  civilizations.  It  is  of  small  value 
to  discuss  at  this  early  date  how  future  gen- 
erations ought  to  work  out  the  details  of  such 
a  world  constitution,  in  which  the  civilized 
states  and  the  semi-civilized  territories  of  the 
world  would  be  combined.  Whether  the  dele- 
gates to  the  congress  of  the  United  States  of 
the  World  will  be  apportioned  according  to 
the  number  of  inhabitants  of  the  various 
countries  or  to  the  area  or  to  the  wealth  or 
to  the  literacy,  or  whether  each  one  will  have 
the  same  number  of  delegates — why  ought 
we  to  wrangle  about  the  problems  of  those 
who  come  after  us?  We  know  that  we  shall 
not  see  such  a  parliament  and  that  if  we  were 
to  see  it,  it  would  prove  helpless  and  ineffi- 
cient, because  the  time  is  not  ripe.  Too  many 
stages  must  still  be  passed  through.  Too 
many  smaller  organizations  and  looser  feder- 
ations must  be  tried  and  tested  by  mankind 's 
experience  before  that  firmest  tie  can  bind  the 
world  together.  But  this  ultimate  stage  of 
our  hopes  cannot  even  be  approached  unless 
we  of  today  clearly  recognize  that  such  an 
236 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

international  organization  would  in  no  way 
interfere  with  a  vigorous  and  powerful  na- 
tionalism. 

Europeans  have  pointed  to  the  Pan- Amer- 
ican Union  as  a  model  for  larger  organiza- 
tions which  may  lead  on  to  better  times.  I 
doubt  whether  the  model  can  have  real  sig- 
nificance. This  purely  geographical  combina- 
tion is,  after  all,  so  completely  controlled  by 
the  United  States  that  any  analogy  would  be 
misleading.  But  both  these  United  States 
and  the  German  Empire  suggest  in  a  more 
promising  way  the  solid  union  of  equals 
which  keep  a  far-reaching  independence  and 
a  healthy  cultural  self-consciousness.  The 
kingdoms  of  Saxony  and  of  Bavaria  and  of 
Wurttemburg  or  the  republics  of  Hamburg 
and  of  Bremen  have  not  lost  their  govern- 
ment or  their  independent  control  of  schools 
and  universities,  of  social,  legal  and  economic 
affairs,  by  having  become  organic  parts  of 
the  German  Empire.  But  surely  if  it  is  im- 
possible today  for  Bavaria  and  Saxony  or" 
for  Pennsylvania  and  Virginia  to  have  a  war 
against  each  other,  it  is  because  an  embrac- 
ing federal  constitution  unites  them  for  great 
common  work.  If  they  had  combined  their 
237 


TOMORROW 

state  powers  only  for  the  one  purpose  of 
fighting  war,  and  if  they  had  established  a 
supreme  court  which  would  settle  the  quar- 
rels of  the  single  states  among  one  another 
without  the  background  of  one  common  legis- 
lative and  executive  activity,  they  would 
never  have  succeeded. 

William  E.  Vance  in  a  recent  paper  on 
"The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  as 
an  International  Tribunal ' '  reminded  us  that 
during  the  period  between  the  end  of  the  Rev- 
olutionary War  and  the  establishment  of  the 
Constitution,  the  existing  confederation  of 
the  states  bound  them  together  only  in  name. 
"During  this  disturbing  period  in  American 
history  there  existed  among  these  states  all 
those  vicious  influences  which  have  always 
made  for  war,  of  the  kind  that  have  had  much 
to  do  with  bringing  on  the  present  war  in 
Europe.  There  were  boundary  disputes,  vio- 
lations of  sovereignty,  local  greed  and  self- 
seeking,  commercial  rivalry  with  trade  re- 
strictions and  discriminations  and  retalia- 
tory legislation  and  even  racial  jealousies. 
The  state  of  New  York  was  particularly  hos- 
tile to  her  neighbors  and  proceeded  upon  the 
theory  that  her  wealth  and  commerce  could 
238 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

be  built  up  only  by  tearing  down  that  of  her 
neighbors.  .  .  .  The  saving  feature  of  the 
new  constitution  was  the  federal  judiciary, 
headed  by  the  Supreme  Court  vested  with  au- 
thority to  settle  controversies  between  the 
states."  But  would  this  judiciary  and  this 
Supreme  Court  have  been  thinkable  if  in  all 
other  respects  the  thirteen  states  had  re- 
mained unbridled  and  disunited?  That  Su- 
preme Court  was  the  crowning  feature  of  the 
United  States  Government,  but  it  could  never 
have  been  established  or  would  never  have 
fulfilled  the  aim,  if  there  had  not  been  a  com- 
mon president  and  congress  charged  with  an 
abundance  of  peaceful  functions  outside  of 
the  negative  one  of  suppressing  quarrels  and 
wars. 

This  is  the  point  which  the  pacifists  are  in- 
clined to  overlook  when  they  gather  their  an- 
alogies from  history.  Their  hopes  for  a  su- 
preme court  of  the  world  must  be  in  vain  as 
long  as  all  the  non-judicial  international  or- 
ganizations are  insignificant.  England's  re- 
lations to  the  other  maritime  powers  cannot 
be  settled  so  simply  as  those  of  New  York 
State  to  its  neighbor  states  were  harmonized 
by  the  establishment  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
239 


TOMORROW 

unless  some  world  president  or  at  least  some 
world  commission  regime  with  a  world  con- 
gress stands  behind  it.  The  question  of  the 
physical  force  by  which  the  will  of  the  world 
organization  can  be  made  paramount  for  each 
incorporated  nation  offers  much  less  diffi- 
culty. If  a  real  positive  statelike  world  or- 
ganization can  be  formed,  it  ought  to  be  pos- 
sible to  check  every  recalcitrant  people  by 
economic  and  cultural  isolation.  The  special 
military  force  would  then  be  secondary.  The 
cutting  off  of  all  communication  and  ex- 
change might  prove  more  powerful  than 
force.  But  we  must  begin  at  the  beginning. 
The  world  federation  must  be  established  in 
order  to  have  the  basis  for  the  truly  impar- 
tial world  court  to  which  every  nation  is 
ready  to  submit  its  grievances;  the  court 
alone  cannot  work.  The  federation,  on  the 
other  hand,  cannot  develop  through  mere 
plans  for  a  judiciary,  but  essentially  from 
productive  organizations.  The  new  interna- 
tionalism will  surely  advance  along  this  line. 
But  it  will  advance  the  more  steadily  the 
more  it  moves  on  by  slow  steps  and  is  not 
misled  by  will-o  '-the-wisps.  This  means  that 
the  world  federation  ought  to  be  an  ideal,  but 
240 


THE  NEW  INTERNATIONALISM 

cannot  possibly  be  a  platform.  The  mere 
legal  arrangement  would  be  an  artificial  de- 
vice ruled  by  abstract  ideas  and  not  by  the 
living  powers  of  history.  The  federation  will 
be  the  final  result  of  such  a  historic  develop- 
ment if  it  slowly  grows  out  of  the  needs  of 
the  active  nations,  but  it  must  have  ages  to 
mature.  The  only  true  historic  form  for 
which  we  can  hope  at  a  time  within  our  reach 
must  be  more  modest  and  more  limited. 

We  must  have  wide  organizations  for  tech- 
nical or  cultural  purposes  and  in  the  sphere 
of  pure  politics  combinations  of  large  and 
small  nations.  If  such  organizations  have 
strictly  military  character,  they  are  hardly 
more  serviceable  for  the  final  federation  idea 
than  any  other  technical  union.  But  the  ex- 
periences of  the  recent  past  suggest  that  na- 
tions which  cooperate  will  feel  the  need  of  a 
fuller  approach.  They  will  be  ready  to  or- 
ganize more  than  the  mutual  help  of  armies 
and  navies;  they  will  prepare  for  common 
peaceful  achievement  and  production  as  well 
as  for  common  dangers  and  emergencies. 
This  spirit  of  organization  and  of  efficiency 
through  common  thorough  preparedness  has 
taken  hold  of  the  world  in  the  last  two  years 
241 


TOMORROW 

and  will  remain  the  strongest  influence  for 
the  near  future.  The  international  combina- 
tions of  powers  will  show  this  new  spirit 
more  than  any  other  smaller  human  group 
can  show  it.  What  may  be  the  leading  group 
in  which  this  new  trend  to  international  or- 
ganization will  appear?  I,  for  one,  should 
say:  Germany,  England,  America.  I  can 
imagine  how  your  indignation  rises :  how  can 
I  dare !  I  do,  but  I  shall  give  you  a  week  to 
ponder  on  it  and  to  cool  off,  and  then  I  shall 
write  to  you  more  fully  about  it.  Hoping 
that  at  least  it  will  not  dissolve  the  old  alli- 
ance between  you  and  me, 

In  cordial  friendship,  yours, 

H.  M. 


IX 

THE  RECONSTEUCTION 

MY  DEAR  COLLEAGUE: 

I  plunge  at  once  into  our  controversy,  feel- 
ing more  than  ever  the  shortcomings  of  such 
written  words.  How  I  should  like  to  hear  the 
clean-cut  answers  with  which  you  enliven  and 
enrich  debates !  Instead  of  it  I  must  stick  to 
my  monotonous  letter  paper.  But  the  argu- 
ment for  my  political  heresy  would  run  as 
follows.  Of  course,  the  idea  of  allies  today 
suggests  to  the  world  the  nine  nations  which 
are  combined  in  the  war  against  the  central 
powers  of  Europe.  But  I  ask  myself:  Can 
they  hope  or  do  they  even  wish  to  remain 
members  of  an  alliance  when  the  great  war 
at  last  comes  to  its  end?  Too  much  has 
leaked  out.  The  interests  are  too  diverging, 
the  national  temperaments  too  different,  the 
historic  tasks  too  much  opposed:  with  the 
hour  of  peace  the  alliance  of  today  will  break 
243 


TOMORROW 

asunder.  It  was  a  team  harnessed  for  the 
task  of  an  hour.  Each  of  them,  right  or 
wrong,  was  set  against  Germany  for  reasons 
of  its  own,  reasons  as  unlike  as  possible.  It 
was  a  master  stroke  of  British  diplomacy  to 
weld  those  different  hostilities  into  one  great 
encircling  power.  The  great  conflict  between 
England  and  France  had  to  be  suppressed, 
so  that  the  French-English  harmony  could 
be  demonstrated  at  Algeciras  ten  short  years 
after  the  heated  days  of  Fashoda.  But  the 
more  difficult  task  in  the  service  of  the  new 
campaign  was  to  inhibit  the  traditional  en- 
mity between  England  and  Russia.  They 
know  that  their  fight  has  to  be  decided  at  the 
frontiers  of  India,  and  the  two  empires  face 
each  other  like  two  wrestlers,  making  each 
move  with  masterly  diplomacy  and  with  a 
consciousness  of  tremendous  power.  They 
do  not  build  for  a  day  but  for  centuries. 
Eussia  pressed  toward  Constantinople ;  Great 
Britain  could  not  allow  Russia's  control  of 
the  Mediterranean.  It  is  not  long  ago  that 
the  music  halls  of  London  resounded  to  the 
wild  applause  for  the  popular  song  which 
ran:  "We  have  fought  the  bear  before,  and 
while  we  are  Britons  true,  the  Russians  shall 
244 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

not  have  Con-stan-ti-nople."  For  one  sharp 
war  against  their  inconvenient  neighbor  who 
spoiled  the  Balkan  policy  of  Russia  and 
pressed  hard  the  British  commerce  in  the 
world  market,  this  fundamental  contest  could 
be  set  aside.  But  they  remain  "  Britons 
true,"  and  however  the  war  against  Germany 
ends,  the  British-Russian  world  conflict  will 
be  the  same  after  as  before  the  war. 

Have  Russia  and  France  any  interest  in 
continuing  the  alliance1?  The  Russians  never 
liked  it,  but  accepted  it  because  the  great 
money-loaning  nation  was  ready  to  give 
billions  for  the  Russian  armament  and 
especially  for  the  military  railway  sys- 
tem on  the  Russian-German  frontier.  The 
French  hope  for  revenge  appeared  near 
fulfillment  through  the  Russian  alliance, 
and  no  sacrifice  for  it  seemed  too  great. 
Those  billions  are  lost:  Russia  will  not 
be  able  to  repay  them  after  this  war;  Al- 
sace-Lorraine has  proved  with  the  blood  of 
her  children  that  it  is  German  to  its  heart's 
core,  loyal  to  the  one  thousand  years  of  its 
history.  What  interest  can  keep  the  Czar 
and  the  French  President  in  political  union? 
Italy  has  quickly  become  the  burden  on  the 
245 


TOMORROW 

shoulders  of  England,  France  and  Russia. 
To  have  forced  Italy's  entrance  into  the 
war  on  the  side  of  the  Allies  was  perhaps 
the  most  serious  mistake  of  judgment  which 
the  Allies  have  to  regret.  At  one  stroke  the 
empire  of  Austria-Hungary  was  united  and 
the  Balkans  estranged.  Italy's  interests  con- 
flict with  those  of  the  Allies  at  almost  every 
point.  Japan  has  shown  its  world  policies 
with  perfect  frankness.  The  treaty  between 
Japan  and  Russia  is  certainly  one  of  the 
greatest  political  events  of  our  time.  The 
two  strongest  Asiatic  forces  have  joined 
hands  and  instead  of  struggling  about  Korea 
or  Manchuria,  they  unite  for  the  supremacy 
over  China  and  the  Pacific.  The  Asiatic 
Monroe  Doctrine  is  declared  and  England 
knows  that  Japan  is  playing  its  bold  game 
against  British  power  in  Asia.  The  new 
treaty  practically  annihilates  the  old  one  be- 
tween Japan  and  England.  The  Oriental 
ally,  the  cleverest  of  them  all,  is  the  only  one 
which  is  a  sure  winner  under  all  circum- 
stances, but  it  cannot  in  future  remain  allied 
with  England,  France  and  Italy.  In  short, 
the  team  of  today  must  break  up  when  the 
war  is  over.  It  is  an  artificial  combination 
246 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

bound  together  for  a  momentary  effect ;  there 
is  no  inner  blending,  no  organic  unity,  no  his- 
toric promise.  This  dissolution  of  the  alli- 
ance after  the  war  certainly  does  not  suggest 
any  disloyalty  of  its  members  as  long  as  the 
war  lasts. 

Such  is  the  future  of  the  Allies,  but  who 
will  be  the  allies  of  the  future?  Can  we 
determine  the  horoscope  of  the  century?  I 
think  in  one  essential  aspect  the  psychologi- 
cal setting  of  the  coming  age  can  be  clearly 
foreseen:  the  fundamental  antithesis  of  the 
political  world  will  be  that  of  Great  Britain 
and  Russia.  Other  possibilities  have  often 
been  discussed.  Some  expect  the  grouping 
of  the  whole  of  Europe  against  the  whole  of 
America.  But  that  is  a  map-made  and  not 
a  mind-made  opposition.  South  America 
stands  nearer  to  Southern  Europe  than  to 
the  United  States,  Western  Europe  nearer  to 
the  pmted  States  than  to  Eastern  Europe. 
Moreover,  Asia  cannot  be  left  out  in  any  fu- 
ture combination:  Pan-Europe  and  Pan- 
America  are  no  longer  the  world.  The  prog- 
nosis of  some  German  extremists  that  the 
great  antithesis  will  be  central  Europe 
against  the  field  is  no  less  unhistoric.  Even 
247 


if  Germany  and  Austria  were  to  end  the  war 
with  a  triumph  far  beyond  the  present  ex- 
pectations, any  peace  which  is  really  a  peace 
and  not  a  continuation  of  the  war  in  a  modi- 
fied form  must  reshape  the  present  unnatu- 
ral constellation.  Germany  would  sacrifice 
its  success  if  it  did  not  join  other  powers, 
as  its  political  aims  and  its  economic  life 
conditions  are  opposed  to  any  aloofness. 
Germany  has  not  sought  the  dominant  role 
of  the  conqueror  who  stands  alone  against 
the  world.  Not  a  single  great  political  or 
economic  principle  would  separate  Germany 
from  both  Western  and  Eastern  Europe  at 
the  same  time.  A  fundamental  grouping  for 
and  against  Germany  will  be  utterly  mean- 
ingless as  soon  as  this  war  is  ended. 

The  German  Empire,  even  with  all  the 
colonies  which  it  ever  had,  covers  only  the 
tenth  part  of  the  British  and  the  eighth  part 
of  the  Russian  Empire.  These  are  the  two 
great  conquering  nations  of  the  globe,  and 
their  planful  expansion  might  indeed  involve 
future  world  conflicts.  Pro-Germans  and 
anti-Germans  will  be  in  the  future  no  more 
the  chief  opponents  than  Pan-Europeans  and 
Pan-Americans;  but  Britons  and  Russians 
248 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

will  be  and  must  be  the  next  protagonists  in 
the  drama  of  the  century.  They  will  not  be 
the  last  and  even  a  fight  to  the  finish  be- 
tween them  would  not  mean  the  end  of  the 
human  struggle  in  wars  and  war  substitutes. 
It  may  be  that  old  peoples  like  the  Chinese, 
the  Zionistic  Hebrews,  the  Persians,  or  new 
peoples  like  the  Australians,  the  Boers,  the 
South  Americans,  will  develop  into  overpow- 
ering nations  which  will  arise  against  the 
leading  peoples  of  today.  But  for  the  next 
two  or  three  generations  such  a  revolution 
seems  impossible:  the  strategic  position  of 
the  leading  nations  of  our  time  is  so  strong 
that  the  decisive  issues  will  lie  among  them. 
The  issue  of  Britannia  or  Russia  will  be  the 
central  one.  But  neither  country  will  stand 
alone.  One  alliance  is  definitely  settled:  the 
union  between  Russia  and  Japan  will  be  un- 
shakable, as  it  serves  common  interests  which 
must  steadily  grow.  But  Japan,  as  soon  as 
it  is  supported  by  Russia,  becomes  an  antag- 
onist to  the  historic  tasks  of  the  United 
States.  It  must  seek  not  only  the  control  of 
the  Philippines,  but  of  the  Pacific.  Mexico 
would  be  Japan's  natural  ally.  America 
can  meet  this  danger  only  by  some  kind 
249 


TOMORROW 

of  understanding  with  Great  Britain.  Eng- 
land and  America  will  balance  Russia,  Japan 
and  Mexico.  A  prophecy  which  goes  up  to 
this  point  seems  pretty  safe,  as, the  psychol- 
ogy of  the  situation  simply  demands  this 
grouping. 

But  as  to  the  next  great  move  on  the  chess- 
board foresight  is  much  more  difficult,  as  two 
possibilities  seem  open.  Germany  will  have 
to  join  the  one  or  the  other  party;  Germany 
will  combine  with  Russia  or  with  England. 
While  their  land  is  eight  or  ten  times  larger, 
Germany's  power,  mightily  strengthened  by 
its  successes  in  the  war,  is  amply  sufficient 
to  make  its  ally  by  far  superior  to  any  op- 
ponent. That  side  to  which  Germany  adds  its 
weight  on  the  scales  of  Europe  will  outbal- 
ance every  adversary.  No  doubt  if  this  de- 
cision has  to  be  made  a  large  part  of  the 
German  people  would  prefer  to  turn  to  Rus- 
sia. The  terrors  of  the  Cossack  invasion  in 
East  Prussia,  the  most  horrible  outrage  of 
all  the  war,  will  not  have  lost  their  grip  on 
their  minds,  but  the  instinctive  reaction 
against  England  will  be  stronger.  The  con- 
viction that  England  forced  this  war  on  its 
economic  rival  by  harnessing  Russia  and 
S50 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

France  will  never  be  given  up  by  the  Ger- 
mans. Moreover,  long  historic  traditions 
back  such  a  German-Russian  understanding. 
The  Japanese  would  welcome  it  heartily. 
The  alliance  of  Germany,  Austria,  Russia, 
Japan,  would  be  easy  and  comfortable.  It 
would  be  the  safer  as  it  would  be  controlled 
by  the  prospect  of  a  common  gain :  All  alike 
would  profit  from  a  victory  over  England. 
Many  Germans  believe  that  France  would 
also  join  the  Russian-German  union. 

Yet  it  would  be  a  tremendous  calamity.  It 
would  burden  the  highly  progressive  culture 
of  the  fatherland  with  the  companionship  of 
the  heavy  oriental  semi-culture  of  the  Musco- 
vites. Concessions  to  such  a  backward  civ- 
ilization, however  fascinating  its  somber 
beauty  and  however  valuable  its  deep  reli- 
gious fervor,  would  slowly  weaken  the  inner 
German  life.  But  another  result  would  be 
still  more  disheartening:  an  alliance  with 
Russia  would  be  the  straight  way  to  a  fur- 
ther war.  The  momentum  of  the  Russian 
Empire  forces  expansion  wherever  the  re- 
sistance is  weak.  Russia,  stimulated  by  the 
ambition  of  Japan  and  supported  by  the  army 
of  Germany,  would  be  no  longer  free  ta 
251 


TOMORROW 

choose;  it  would  have  to  take  up  the  fight 
against  the  great  invader  of  Asia.  India 
would  be  liberated  from  the  English  yoke 
in  order  to  come  into  the  sphere  of  Russian 
and  Japanese  influence:  Asia  for  the  Asi- 
atics !  Germany  would  be  lured  into  such  a 
war  by  the  hope  of  breaking  forever  the  Brit- 
ish supremacy  of  the  sea.  This  war,  in  which 
Russia,  Germany,  Austria,  Turkey,  Japan 
and  Mexico  would  fight  against  Great  Brit- 
ain and  the  United  States,  with  the  position 
of  France  and  Italy  in  doubt,  would  be  a 
superwar  to  which  the  struggle  of  today 
would  appear  a  mere  preamble.  Its  outcome 
would  be  doubtful,  but  whoever  won,  the 
devastation  of  the  civilized  lands  would  be 
terrific.  For  the  first  time  the  whole  of 
Asia  and  America  would  tremble,  and  Europe 
would  be  drenched  in  blood.  Is  that  the  pros- 
pect with  which  the  belligerents  of  today  are 
to  go  home  from  the  trenches  ?  Will  the  peace 
for  which  we  all  long  really  mean  only  a 
short  truce  and  more  horrible  war  at  the 
next  signal!  The  mere  thought  of  it  is  un- 
bearable. It  cannot  be,  it  must  not  be,  and 
yet  it  will  be,  unless  from  the  start  power- 
ful energies  force  the  development  into  the 
252 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

opposite  direction.  Germany's  alliance  with 
Eussia  is  war;  the  only  other  possibility  is 
a  German  understanding  with  Great  Britain 
and  America. 

If  the  three  great  Teutonic  nations  enter 
into  a  practical  union,  the  peace  of  the  world 
is  secure  for  children  and  children's  children. 
Great  Britain's  navy,  Germany's  army  and 
America's  economic  power,  nay,  Great  Brit- 
ain's colonizing  genius,  Germany's  thor- 
oughness and  America's  energetic  op- 
timism make  an  invincible  team.  It  would 
be  an  organic  union  and  the  whole  new  set- 
ting of  the  world  would  have  truly  historic 
meaning.  East  Europe  with  Asia  on  one 
side,  Central  and  Western  Europe  with 
North  America  on  the  other  side,  is  a  di- 
vision of  the  northern  world  in  which  the 
inner  forces  of  the  century  are  really  ex- 
pressed. It  would  be  no  artificial  binding  to- 
gether, but  the  natural  organization  of  two 
groups  of  divergent  spirit  and  interest.  This 
antithesis  of  Orient  and  Occident  would  not 
presage  an  armed  conflict.  It  would  be  a 
perfect  balance  in  which  the  only  power  which 
must  seek  expansion,  Eussia,  would  be  held 
in  check.  With  Germany  on  the  English 
253 


TOMORROW 

side  Russia  could  never  attack  India.  The 
unstable  equilibrium  of  past  combinations 
would  have  been  replaced  by  a  perfectly  sta- 
ble one.  It  might  not  mean  the  end  of  war 
forever.  Nor  would  it  mean  the  end  of  arma- 
ment. On  the  contrary,  Germany  will  have  to 
build  a  wall  of  bayonets  along  its  eastern 
frontiers,  even  if  an  autonomous  Poland  is 
created  as  a  buffer  state.  But  while  pre- 
paredness would  remain  necessary,  the  two 
groups  would  be  able  to  live  side  by  side  en- 
gaged for  two  or  three  generations  in  their 
inner  development,  without  actual  friction  in 
the  regions  of  contact. 

Each  of  the  two  groups  would  be  the  nu- 
cleus for  a  much  larger  combination.  Aus- 
tria, France,  Italy,  Spain,  Sweden,  Norway, 
Denmark,  Holland,  Switzerland,  would  clus- 
ter about  the  German-English-American  cen- 
ter. Each  of  them  accordingly  would  be  at 
last  in  a  historic  position  in  which  they 
could  organize  their  own  members  into  a 
firmer  union.  For  a  long  time  it  will  surely 
not  be  a  real  federation.  Neither  the  Asiatic 
East  European  group  nor  the  American  West 
Central  European  group  will  have  a  common 
government.  But  some  kind  of  representa- 
254 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

tive  assembly  will  surely  be  established  for 
these  combinations  of  the  future  in  order  to 
settle  their  common  concerns.  As  these  af- 
fairs of  the  various  groups  overlap  and  as  no 
war  cloud  will  be  on  the  horizon  the  different 
congresses  may  slowly  be  interconnected,  and 
the  civilized  world  will  become  more  and 
more  accustomed  to  the  plan  of  organized 
action.  It  need  not  be  and  ought  not  to  be 
a  repetition  of  the  anemic  Hague  conferences, 
which  had  the  stamp  of  insincerity  and  in- 
efficiency from  the  instant  of  the  first  invi- 
tation of  Czar  Nicholas.  With  them  the  idea 
of  world  organization  started  wrongly  be- 
cause their  only  function  was  to  forbid.  True 
organization  must  begin — a  psychologist  can- 
not say  it  too  often — with  positive  construc- 
tive common  work.  The  so-called  "  interna- 
tional law"  must  be  almost  the  by-product  of 
the  assemblies  which  serve  the  great  cultural, 
social,  hygienic,  technical,  scientific,  statisti- 
cal, philanthropic  and  moral  tasks.  The  im- 
portance, breadth  of  action  and  power  of 
such  a  central  body  must  naturally  grow  by 
itself  and  will  approach  more  and  more  the 
form  of  a  federal  government.  But  long  be- 
fore this  last  goal  is  reached  the  organization 
255 


TOMORROW 

will  have  gained  sufficient  strength  to  be  a 
background  for  a  world  tribunal  with  really 
impartial  judges  and  moral  and  economic  en- 
ergies sufficient  to  enforce  the  verdict. 

No  necessity  determines  Germany's  future 
course.  It  can  be  foreseen  with  certainty  that 
after  the  war  Eussia  and  Great  Britain  will 
be  the  centers  of  two  world  groups,  but 
whether  Germany  will  join  the  one  or  the 
other  cannot  be  predicted.  The  only  pos- 
sible prediction  is  that  the  Russian-German 
alliance  would  mean  perpetual  war,  and  the 
British-German  understanding  would  prom- 
ise long,  unbroken  peace.  We  who  want  peace 
and  who  believe  that  it  would  be  madness  to 
make  this  carnage  continuous  can  therefore 
see  clearly  for  which  decision  we  ought  to 
work.  The  parting  of  the  ways  is  near.  No 
more  solemn  duty  is  before  those  who  look 
with  open  eyes  into  the  distance  than  to  warn 
and  to  warn  the  Germans  against  the  Rus- 
sian companionship  and  to  urge  and  to  urge 
a  firm,  frank  German-British  union  with  the 
United  States  as  the  third  chief  associate. 

I  have  no  doubt,  my  friend,  you  will  read 
these  pages  of  my  letter  with  distrust  and 
embarrassment.  You  will  shake  your  head 
256 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

and  say  that  the  hope  of  a  German-British 
understanding  is  an  epigram  not  worthy  to  be 
taken  seriously.  Certainly  at  this  hour,  when 
the  struggle  is  at  no  war  front  so  bitter  as 
where  German  and  British  troops  face  each 
other,  it  sounds  paradoxical.  Yet  it  would  be 
poor  politics  to  suppress  an  appeal  because  it 
may  startle  at  the  first  moment  and  to  wait 
until  it  pleases  everyone ;  then  it  may  be  too 
late.  Think  of  it  quietly  and  your  reasoning 
will  end  at  this  same  conviction.  I  have 
made  a  test.  Recently  I  published  an  essay 
in  the  leading  papers  of  New  York,  Boston 
and  Philadelphia,  pleading  with  similar  argu- 
ments for  future  German-British-American 
sympathy.  An  avalanche  of  letters  rushed  in 
upon  me.  About  fifteen  per  cent  came  from 
Anglo-Americans  who  denounced  the  plan  ve- 
hemently: "Not  until  Tirpitz  and  every 
junker  is  burned  alive":  "Decent  nations 
like  England  and  America  can  never  deal 
with  savage  barbarians,"  and  so  on.  More 
than  ten  per  cent  were  from  Germans  and 
German-Americans  who  spoke  a  similar 
slang :  1 1 First  Grey  must  be  hanged " :  "No 
community  possible  between  honest  Germans 
and  English  brutes  and  criminals."  This 
257 


TOMORROW 

was  to  be  expected.  I  was  psychologist 
enough  to  foresee  that  both  the  anti-German 
and  the  anti-British  extremists  would  de- 
nounce me  as  a  poor  psychologist  who  does 
not  understand  the  emotions  of  the  indignant 
peoples.  But  about  seventy-five  per  cent  of 
the  letters  spoke  quite  a  different  language. 
Many  confessed  that  they  had  been  surprised 
at  first,  but  that  they  recognized,  "It  has 
to  be."  The  majority,  however,  welcomed 
the  plan  from  the  start  and  many  were  filled 
with  jubilant  enthusiasm.  I  do  not  ask  for 
your  enthusiasm :  it  would  even  be  improper 
for  the  belligerent  peoples,  as  long  as  the  con- 
test of  the  armies  lasts.  I  ask  you  only  to 
acknowledged,  "It  has  to  be"  if  the  peace  of 
tomorrow  is  to  be  more  than  the  signal  for 
the  most  frightful  world  war  in  the  days  to 
come. 

In  every  land  there  are  carpet-baggers  who 
are  bound  to  make  a  mess  of  reconstruction. 
Let  us  beware  of  their  egotism  and  let  us  be- 
ware no  less  of  those  who  remain  slaves  of 
their  war  mood  and  of  their  indignation.  To 
satisfy  their  patriotic  grudge  is  to  them  more 
important  than  to  build  up  the  strength  and 
honor  and  safety  of  their  country.  The  Ger- 
258 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

mans  and  English  and,  alas,  the  Americans 
will  have  to  forget  much  which  has  set  their 
blood  boiling.  Mistakes,  serious  mistakes, 
have  been  made  on  all  sides  and  have  been 
sincerely  regretted  on  all  sides.  Much  which 
has  been  done  by  each  people  with  historic 
justice  and  with  clear  conscience  had  to 
appear  to  the  other  party  as  wrong  and 
infamous.  Peoples  ought  to  be  judged  only 
by  those  who  are  able  to  enter  with  full  un- 
derstanding into  their  real  motives :  in  war- 
time the  opponents  and  their  sympathizers 
are  unwilling  and  unable  to  do  so.  The  hatred 
had  its  time,  but  after  the  war  the  more  sig- 
nificant emotion  of  the  Germans,  Britons  and 
Americans  ought  to  be  a  common  feeling  of 
regret  that  anger  blurred  their  vision  so 
sadly.  War  is  war,  but  peace  ought  to  be 
peace,  and  the  nightmare  must  be  shaken  off 
with  the  fresh  morning.  Sober  statesman- 
ship must  replace  both  sentimentality  and 
hatred. 

But  as  soon  as  this  goal  is  recognized,  it 
is  not  enough  to  begin  the  organization  after 
peace  is  made.  The  peace  negotiations  them- 
selves must  be  a  loyal  preparation  for  the 
coming  of  a  true  peace  and  organisation.  If 
259 


TOMORROW 

any  great  nation  were  crushed  or  humiliated 
at  the  end  of  this  war,  the  time  which  comes 
would  be  one  of  preparation  for  vengeance 
with  all  its  bartering  and  intriguing.  More 
than  that  the  chances  would  be  ruined  if  any 
peace  conditions  were  to  contain  the  germs 
for  later  conflicts,  and,  in  particular,  conflicts 
between  Germany  and  England.  It  was  the 
glory  of  the  past  to  end  a  war  with  the  tri- 
umph over  the  foe  thrown  to  the  dust;  it  is 
the  spirit  of  our  time  to  see  the  goal  of  bat- 
tles in  social  combats  and  in  war  not  in  the 
crushing  of  the  enemy  but  of  the  enmity. 

If  both  Germany  and  England  look  into  the 
future  with  this  temper  some  demands  for  the 
peace  overtures  seem  essential.  Germany 
must  not  keep  possession  of  a  square  foot  of 
Belgium.  The  Flemish  part  of  Belgium  is 
racially  united  with  the  Empire  and  in  the 
routine  style  of  the  past  the  conqueror  might 
claim  its  possession.  But  it  is  Germany's 
duty  to  withdraw.  German  fortresses  on  the 
Belgian  coast  would  be  like  a  pistol  directed 
at  England's  breast.  The  instinctive  feeling 
that  Germany  would  be  a  danger  if  it  occu- 
pied Belgium  brought  England  into  the  war ; 
this  feeling  must  be  respected ;  the  whole  of 
260 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

Belgium  must  go  back  to  the  Belgians.  On 
the  other  hand,  England  must  respect  the  in- 
stinctive feeling  which  made  Germany  rest- 
less. The  Central  Empire  is  choked  and  can- 
not breathe  freely  so  long  as  it  has  no  large 
colonial  possessions.  The  Germans  with  their 
tremendous  energy  and  industry  cannot  ex- 
pand in  Europe  where  solid  formations  limit 
their  land  east  and  west,  and  they  came  too 
late  for  the  distribution  of  the  uncivilized 
world.  England,  France,  Italy  and  Russia 
found  the  world  before  them,  but  for  Ger- 
many no  chances  were  left,  and  wherever  ac- 
cidental openings  came  England  opposed. 
Germany's  ambition,  fearing  that  her  world 
market  might  suffer  from  the  new  rival  or 
that  her  supremacy  of  the  sea  might  be  dis- 
turbed by  a  German  hold  on  some  distant 
coast.  Here  England  must  see  that  peace  can 
be  lasting  only  if  the  mighty  energies  of 
Germany,  strengthened  by  the  new  successes 
of  the  German  army  and  by  the  incompa- 
rable striving  of  German  industry  and  civic 
efficiency,  find  an  outlet  in  wide  fields  of 
colonial  activity. 

How  the  details  may  shape  themselves  no- 
body can  foresee.    Surely  France,  too,  must 
261 


TOMORROW 

receive  back  all  the  lost  European  territory. 
It  may  be  that  in  exchange  Germany  will  get 
a  part  of  Morocco  and  of  the  French  Congo. 
Poland  must  at  last  be  autonomous.  For 
Germany  this  concession  to  the  spirit  of  na- 
tionalism may  mean  a  sacrifice,  as  it  may  dis- 
quiet the  Poles  in  eastern  Prussia.  Old  Ger- 
man Courland  must  go  back  to  Germany. 
England,  which  never  loses,  may  win  Egypt 
and  perhaps  parts  of  German  Southwest 
Africa,  But  Eussia,  too,  ought  to  leave  the 
field  satisfied.  The  exit  to  the  Mediterra- 
nean will  not  be  opened,  but  the  peace  confer- 
ence may  give  parts  of  Persia  to  Eussia  and 
thus  offer  the  harbors  which  no  winter  ice 
blocks.  And  I  do  not  forget  the  hopes  of  the 
Balkan  people,  of  Ireland  and  Finland. 

But  it  is  not  enough  that  the  Teutonic 
concord  be  ushered  in  by  a  fair  peace  between 
Germany  and  England.  Nothing  would 
strengthen  it  more  than  if  the  third  chief 
friend,  America,  could  be  the  mediator  be- 
tween the  two  others  from  the  start.  The 
three  leading  statesmen  of  the  United  States, 
Great  Britain  and  Germany  ought  to  speak 
not  by  public  notes  and  speeches  in  parlia- 
ment but  in  confidential  discussions  until 
262 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

some  ways  of  mutual  approach  are  found. 
Three  nations  will  follow,  and  the  earth 
will  have  glorious  peace  for  generations 
hereafter.  To  be  sure,  it  might  be  said 
that  we  could  have  had  such  a  British-Ger- 
man-American harmony  before  the  war.  Yes 
and  no.  Certainly  both  in  Germany  and  Eng- 
land some  of  the  best  statesmen  and  men  of 
all  walks  of  life  worked  sincerely  for  a  bet- 
ter understanding.  But  they  could  not  suc- 
ceed. There  was  too  much  jealousy  and  envy 
and  suspicion  accumulated.  A  terrific  thun- 
derstorm was  necessary  to  clear  the  sultry 
air.  Now  at  last  the  two  countries  can  start 
anew.  Each  knows  now  the  tremendous  en- 
ergy of  the  other  and  knows  how  much  they 
can  harm  and  can  help  each  other.  But  the 
war  has  also  taught  them  how  many  interests 
they  have  in  common.  Even  the  freedom  of 
the  sea  which  Germany  always  demanded  as 
a  protection  against  England  will  be  needed 
in  future  no  less  for  England  itself,  as  its 
trade  may  otherwise  succumb  to  the  sub- 
marines. 

If  the  Germans  complain  that  such  a  peace- 
ful peace  does  not  bring  them  enough  to  com- 
pensate them  for  the  vast  sacrifices,  they 
263 


TOMORROW 

ought  not  to  forget  that  no  area  at  the  west- 
ern front  could  compare  with  the  value  of 
lasting  peace  for  their  inner  development. 
Their  long  freight  trains  will  move  to  and  fro 
between  Berlin  and  Bagdad,  their  new  col- 
onies will  furnish  them  raw  material  and 
room  for  active  men,  the  unbearable  pres- 
sure of  the  last  two  decades  will  be  removed 
from  their  frontiers.  The  whole  nation  will' 
stand  before  the  world  as  a  people  which  in 
the  first  two  years  of  war  performed  a  deed 
unique  in  the  history  of  mankind.  I  know 
your  Berlin  friends  will  grumble,  and  yet  the 
day  will  come  when  they  will  see  that  Ger- 
many would  have  gained  less  if  it  had  gained 
more.  Anyhow  it  will  gain  more  than  it 
ever  dreamed  of  when  it  was  forced  into  the 
war.  Let  the  enemies  of  Germany  draw  a 
caricature  of  the  Teuton  who  wants  to  con- 
quer the  world  and  who  is  hopelessly  disap- 
pointed by  his  failure,  as  he  has  not  trium- 
phantly entered  Paris,  London,  Borne  and 
Petrograd.  We  know  that  Germany  had  only 
the  one  wish  to  defend  herself  and  to  keep 
the  vastly  more  numerous  white  and  colored 
enemies  outside  of  her  borders.  This  alone 
was  worth  any  sacrifice. 

264 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

Frederick  the  Great  did  not  gain  more 
from  the  Seven  Years'  War,  and  yet  its  out- 
come meant  more  for  Germany's  future  than 
any  possible  conquest.  Prussia's  triumph 
was  never  more  historically  pregnant  than 
when  a  century  later  the  armies  returned 
from  Koniggratz  and  the  peace  brought  not 
a  foot  of  hostile  territory.  The  German  fear 
that  before  a  decisive  German  victory  is 
won  a  reasonable  peace  with  England  might 
be  misinterpreted  as  a  sign  of  weakness  is 
absurd.  Since  the  entrance  of  Roumania  into 
the  war  the  Central  Powers  with  a  popula- 
tion of  176,000,000  stand  against  the  Allied 
powers  with  855,000,000,  the  peoples  of 
3,000,000  square  miles  against  the  peoples  of 
31,000,000  square  miles.  Whoever  can  de- 
fend himself  against  such  odds  does  not  need 
crushing  victories  or  increased  home  land  in 
order  to  give  weight  to  his  will  in  the  future. 
The  two  leaders  of  the  war  have  tested  one 
another's  steel  and  have  proved  invincible; 
that  is  the  most  favorable  condition  for  creat- 
ing a  peace  which  may  really  last,  a  peace 
between  two  equals. 

America,  too,  had  cordial  feelings  before 
the  war  not  only  for  Great  Britain  but  for 
265 


TOMORROW 

Germany,  which  fully  shared  this  sentiment 
of  friendship.  No  afterthought  ought  to 
distort  this  time  of  hearty  exchange.  Yet 
the  idea  of  a  political  union  was  never 
in  question.  The  old  Washingtonian  tradi- 
tion that  America  was  not  to  enter  into 
alliances  remained  paramount.  Happy 
America  had  no  neighbors;  why  ought  it 
to  play  the  costly  game  of  the  old  nations 
whose  policies  begin  and  end  with  the 
fundamental  fact  that  they  are  crowded 
together  in  narrow  Europe.  But  America, 
too,  has  had  to  learn  from  the  war, 
and  one  lesson  above  all:  America  is  no 
longer  without  neighbors.  Not  only  Mexico 
gave  it  an  unpleasant  reminder  of  this,  but 
Europe  made  it  clear  that  the  Atlantic  is  no 
more  a  separation  than  the  Rio  Grande.  The 
isolation  of  the  new  world  has  disappeared ; 
America  is  drawn  into  the  old,  old  play  of 
the  Occident,  a  neighbor  among  neighbors- 
Whether  the  senate  would  ever  be  willing  to 
enter  into  any  kind  of  alliance  is  not  decisive. 
Some  definite  attitude  to  the  European  coun- 
tries will  be  necessary  for  the  United  States 
after  the  world  changes  which  the  war 
has  disclosed.  If  Russia-Japan  really  stands 
266 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

on  one  side,  England-Germany-France  on  the 
other,  it  is  certain  that  America  would  choose 
the  latter  party.  The  understanding  may  be 
silent,  but  it  will  be  effective  as  far  as  influ- 
ence and  action  are  concerned.  And  this 
group  will  be  the  nucleus  for  the  world  union 
in  which  the  new  nationalism  and  the  new 
idealism  of  the  single  nations  will  be  blended 
with  the  new  pacifism  and  the  new  interna- 
tionalism of  the  organized  world  community. 
The  sixteenth  century  was  one  of  discoveries, 
the  seventeenth  one  of  natural  science,  the 
eighteenth  one  of  enlightenment  and  the  nine- 
teenth one  of  technique ;  the  twentieth  prom- 
ises to  be  the  century  of  organization. 

Organization! — it  sounds  as  trivial  as  the 
philistine  virtue  of  a  department  store.  Yet 
real  organization  means  in  every  group  that 
every  member  submits  his  own  desires  to  the 
interests  of  the  whole,  that  all  friction  is 
planfully  avoided,  that  all  parts  are  organi- 
cally interconnected  and  that  nevertheless 
each  member  is  conscious  of  his  full  indepen- 
dent responsibilities.  If  the  peoples  of  a 
group,  or  finally  of  the  globe,  are  bound  by  an 
organization,  it  demands  in  the  same  way  that 
each  subordinate  its  selfish  desires  to  the 
267 


TOMORROW 

progress  of  the  whole,  to  the  aims  of  western 
culture,  to  the  ideals  of  mankind.  It  means 
for  them,  too,  that  internal  friction  is  avoided 
as  among  the  states  of  a  federation  and  that 
the  productive  interrelations  are  developed 
to  the  highest  efficiency,  and  finally  it  de- 
mands that  each  people  be  enthusiastically 
loyal  to  its  own  historic  mission  and  to  its 
own  solemn  task  which  is  unique  and  cannot 
be  replaced.  In  short,  the  organization  of 
the  peoples  which  must  come  involves  just 
those  four  great  energies  which  can  be  clearly 
traced  in  the  image  of  the  after-war  time: 
nationalism,  idealism,  pacifism  and  interna- 
tionalism. 

The  century  of  discoveries  was  ushered  in 
by  Europe's  physical  discovery  of  America; 
the  century  of  organization  begins  with  Eu- 
rope's political  discovery  of  America  in  the 
last  two  years.  The  nations  of  Europe  have 
found  for  the  first  time  that  America  belongs 
to  their  inmost  circle  and  that  they  cannot 
settle  their  own  conflicts  any  longer  without 
America  somehow  taking  part.  The  war  of 
the  Allies  against  the  Central  Powers  would 
have  collapsed  in  the  middle  of  the  second 
year  if  America  had  not  supported  it  with 
268 


THE  RECONSTRUCTION 

toils  and  tools.  Let  us  forget!  But  let  us 
remember  the  age  of  peace  will  not  bring  us 
the  hoped-for  blessing  unless  America  joins 
heartily  the  pre-federation  of  the  occidental 
nations.  As  soon  as  Columbia  really  sets 
her  face  toward  peace,  the  war  clouds  will  be 
dispelled  and  the  age  of  our  hopes  will  dawn. 
My  mind  is  gleaming  with  radiant  hopes. 
Peace  must  come  soon,  and  who  knows,  my 
friend,  when  the  roses  bloom  again  in  your 
beautiful  garden,  one  of  the  German  ships 
interned  here  in  Boston  harbor  may  have 
brought  me  back  to  the  fatherland  to  you.  I 
am  sure  in  one  wondrous  hour  at  home  I  can 
tell  you  face  to  face  so  much  more  than  I 
have  told  you  in  these  letters.  Yes,  when 
the  roses  bloom.  .  .  . 

Cordially  yours, 

H.  M. 


POSTSCRIPT 

MY  DEAB  FRIEND: 

This  is  a  miserable  surprise  indeed. 
When  I  finished  my  last  letter  the  day  be- 
fore yesterday  I  thought  how  four  months 
had  passed  since  I  mailed  you  the  first  one 
and  I  wanted  to  make  sure  that  at  least  the 
three  or  four  letters  of  the  early  weeks  had 
reached  you  safely.  I  sent  you  a  wireless 
inquiry,  and  this  moment  I  get  your  laconic 
wireless  answer:  "Not  one!"  Well,  when 
I  think  that  these  were  letters  to  Germany, 
that  England  has  captured  them,  and  that 
America  does  not  protest,  my  hope  for  the 
British-German-American  friendship  after 
the  war  is  a  little  chilled.  Yet  I  remain  an 
incurable  optimist;  and  surely  such  methods 
will  not  uproot  my  wish  that  my  letters  reach 
you.  I  have  copies  of  them,  and  I  shall  print 
them  here.  Some  stray  volume  will  finally 
270 


POSTSCRIPT 

slip  through.  There  are  no  indiscretions  and 
no  secrets  in  our  correspondence  and,  while 
I  should  never  meddle  with  political  ques- 
tions here,  no  one  can  blame  me  for  speak- 
ing frankly  to  an  old  friend  beyond  the 
sea. 

To  get  a  glimpse  of  these  nine  pieces  of 
correspondence  may  even  be  quite  wholesome 
for  the  chance  reader.  The  world  has  be- 
come accustomed  to  read  only  extreme  utter- 
ances and  the  resulting  habit  of  mind  is  the 
most  dangerous  obstacle  on  the  way  to  peace 
and  to  a  sound  future.  Nobody  has  the  cour- 
age to  urge  the  peace  which  everybody  wants,  ' 
because  a  few  extremists  on  all  sides  hiss 
vengeance.  What  we  need  is  a  new  setting 
of  our  feelings ;  we  too  often  take  one  aspect 
for  the  whole.  This  morning  I  found  in  my 
mail  a  large  number  of  approving  utterances 
from  Americans,  Canadians  and  Germans, 
but  three  marked  copies  of  American  news- 
papers in  which  the  editorials  objected  to 
my  suggestions  of  a  Teutonic  mutual  ap- 
proach after  the  war.  One  came  from  the 
East  and  said  that  it  is  impossible,  as  "the 
world  will  never  forget  that  Germany  worked 
for  this  war,  lied  for  it,  schemed  for  it,  pro- 
271 


voked  it  and  carried  it  on  in  a  way  which 
would  put  to  shame  the  most  barbarous  and 
savage  races."  The  other  came  from  the 
West  and  said  that  "an  approach  is  impos- 
sible, because  generations  would  have  to  pass 
before  the  contempt  for  the  English  cam- 
paign of  lies  and  hypocrisy  and  the  disgust 
at  the  English  crimes  throughout  the  war 
would  have  disappeared  from  the  world." 
And  yet  the  average  American  is  fair  and 
sound  and  ready  to  value  a  great  goal  more 
highly  than  a  rankling  sentiment  He  would 
say  with  Sophocles :  "My  task  is  not  to  share 
your  hatred  but  your  love."  The  spirit  of 
the  Americans  of  today  has  made  the  lan- 
guage of  Sophocles  forgotten  and  almost  for- 
bidden, but  the  sentiment  of  his  words  is 
neither  forbidden  nor  forgotten.  I  am  con- 
vinced that  it  is  the  real  undercurrent  in  the 
minds  of  those  who  will  give  us  the  better 
tomorrow. 

The  third  clipping  came  from  the  South. 
The  Nashville  Tennessean  writes :  *  *  That  is 
a  very  foolish  thing  for  a  psychologist  to  say 
at  this  time.  A  professor  of  psychology  should 
have  known  better.  He  is  supposed  to  know 
something  about  what  is  termed  the  psycho- 
273 


POSTSCRIPT 

logical  moment,  about  the  temper  of  minds 
under  given  conditions.  Even  a  man  who 
knows  no  psychology  is  well  aware  that  na- 
tions at  war  are  bitter  toward  each  other 
and  that  any  suggestion  of  their  ever  being 
friendly  is  hooted,  scorned  and  spurned.  It 
has  been  denounced  alike  in  Germany,  Great 
Britain  and  the  United  States — notwithstand- 
ing its  probable  truth.  Munsterberg  is  wrong 
in  the  application  of  his  psychology:  he  may 
be.  right  in  his  vision,  no  matter  how  it  is 
denounced.*' 

I  am,  of  course,  deeply  touched  by  the  ten- 
der editorial  care  and  anxiety  for  my  repu- 
tation as  a  psychologist.  But  would  it  really 
be  better  psychology  to  delay  a  suggestion 
until  it  is  too  late  ?  If  this  war  ends  without 
bringing  a  state  of  inner  rest  and  satisfac- 
tion to  both  England  and  Germany  a  more 
horrible  war  will  be  unavoidable  in  the  near 
future.  Now  is  the  time  to  encourage  every 
effort  of  the  neutrals  to  secure  a  peace  which 
satisfies  all.  Of  course  such  a  suggestion  is 
spurned  and  hooted  by  the  belligerents.  I 
take  without  whining  the  editorial  verdict 
that  it  is  a  foolish  thing  for  the  psychologist. 
I  am  satisfied  with  the  fact  that  he  himself 
273 


TOMORROW 

feels  obliged  to  add  that  my  vision  is  prob- 
ably right,  no  matter  how  it  is  denounced.  I 
am  ready  to  say  what  is  unpleasant  if,  as  he 
acknowledges,  it  is  true.  We  have  suffered 
enough  from  the  one-sided  untruth.  Only  the 
truth  will  make  us  free.  But  I  do  not  tremble 
even  for  my  psychology.  The  pivot  of  our 
minds  is,  after  all,  habit.  No  ideas  have  a 
good  chance  to  win  except  those  to  which 
we  become  accustomed.  The  harmony  of  the 
leading  nations  cannot  become  a  reality  un- 
less we  make  the  very  thought  of  this  inner 
approach  habitual.  We  have  become  unac- 
customed to  the  fundamental  fact  that  Amer- 
ica and  England  and  Germany  have  their 
very  best  in  common.  The  claim  that  these 
three  nations  belong  together  and  that  their 
cordial  union  alone  can  secure  a  lasting  peace 
when  this  war  comes  to  an  end  may  be 
scorned  today,  but  the  very  scorning  forces 
the  thought  on  the  minds  of  the  nations  and 
makes  them  slowly  accustomed  to  approach 
even  this  idea  without  surprise,  until  it  finally 
becomes  habitual.  We  cannot  wait  for  the 
day  after  tomorrow  to  take  care  of  what  will 
be  needed  tomorrow ;  today  is  the  time ;  this 
hour  will  decide  whether  we  prepare  for  a 
274 


POSTSCRIPT 

century  of  warfare  or  for  ages  of  peace.  Let 
us  not  miss  the  solemn  call  of  our  duty.  And 
now  for  the  last  time,  farewell. 

In  faithful  friendship,  yours, 

H.  M. 


(1) 


29044 


DATE  DUE 


PRINTED  IN  U.S.A. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  683  259     6 


